ANKARA, Turkey, June 20 (UPI) -- An oil pipeline planned from the Kurdish region of northern Iraq to Turkey may go to, but not cross, national borders, a Turkish official said.
Turkish energy company Genel Energy said earlier this year it expects to convert a natural gas pipeline in Iraq to an oil pipeline by the end of the year.
Genel said exports of oil by truck over the Turkish border began in January. It said it expects exports to reach as much as 20,000 barrels of oil per day this year.
A Turkish official told Hurriyet Daily News on condition of anonymity the pipeline would go to, but not cross, the Iraqi border with Turkey. Any company has the right to construct pipelines within national borders, the official said Wednesday.
The central Iraqi government in Baghdad and the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government are at odds over oil issues.
The semiautonomous Kurdish government gave Genel permission in January to export crude oil to Turkey.
Baghdad said unilateral energy initiatives taken by the Kurdish government may be in violation of the national constitution.
