Iraq in talks with Iran to safeguard oil tankers

Iraq's oil minister said Baghdad is talking to Iran about allowing some of the country's oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, as Iraq seeks to ease disruptions to crude exports following recent attacks on tankers in its own waters.



Iraq is also working to restore a disused pipeline that would allow oil to be pumped directly to Turkey's Ceyhan port without passing through the Kurdistan region, according to Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani in a video statement released on Monday.



Iraq will complete an inspection of a 100-km section of the pipeline within a week to enable direct exports from Kirkuk.



The reopening of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, which has been shut for more than a decade, would offer an alternative export route at a time when shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz is severely disrupted by the conflict in the Middle East.



Exports via the 960-km pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global supply, were halted in 2014 after repeated attacks by Islamic State militants.