TEHRAN, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Negotiations are underway to transfer the crude oil from Iraq's Kirkuk fields to Iran instead of sending it to the Turkish city of Ceyhan, local media reported Tuesday.
"Should the Kurdistan Regional Government fail to reach an agreement with the central government in Baghdad on oil export policy, the transfer of Kirkuk crude to Iran will be feasible," Hamid Hosseini, secretary-general of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce, was quoted by Financial Tribune daily as saying.
The move will possibly be implemented under a possible swap agreement or in return for Iran's engineering services, Hosseini said.
Following the Kurdistan region's independence vote in late September, Baghdad has taken steps to bring oil exports under federal control, calling on other countries to deal exclusively with the central government regarding oil trade.
Comprehensive surveys are being conducted to determine whether it is financially and technically feasible to transfer Iraq's crude oil to Iran, Hosseini said.
"If crude oil transfer venture from Kirkuk is launched, close to 650,000 barrels of oil can be delivered to Iran per day," Hosseini said.
He said that it is very likely that a pipeline will be constructed to send oil from Iraq's Basra port to Iran's Abadan port.
"We can also provide them with engineering services to complete their energy and power projects in return for transferring crude to Iran," he said.
Although Iraq and Iran are rivals in the global oil market, they can collaborate on oil projects as they share a large number of massive hydrocarbon reserves, he added.
