Turkey and Iraq signed a preliminary agreement extending to 15 years the period of the accord on transport of Iraqi oil from Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

Officials told the AA on Thursday that Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Yusuf Yazar and Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Liaibi signed the preliminary agreement.

According to the schedule of Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz, ministers of the two countries are expected to sign the formal agreement in Baghdad in the coming days.

1,000 kilometer Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline, built in the late 1970s, consists of two trunks, with a combined design capacity of 1.6 million barrels per day.

AA