Iraqi oil minister Jabbar al-Luiebi is set to visit Turkey this week to discuss the future of the Ceyhan-Kirkuk oil pipeline, a statement from the Iraqi oil minister said on Monday, according to Reuters . Turkey and Iraq are warming to each other as the two nations seek to undermine the ability of factions within their Kurdish minorities to further claims for an independent state. Following the meeting, Iraqi oil shipments will be sold via the state marketer SOMO, the ministry’s statement added. Iraqi officials’ requests, which instruct Kurdish authorities to restart exports through the pipeline connecting Ceyhan directly, have fallen on deaf ears. Iraqi forces took over the Bai Hassan and Avana fields near Kirkuk last year, following a referendum by the Kurdistan Regional Government to gain independence from Baghdad. A day before the September vote, the Iraqi central government issued a statement calling on “neighboring countries and […]