Iraq-Turkey pipeline shut-in hits Genel

Shares in Genel Energy fell on Monday, after the oil producer confirmed that a key pipeline had been suspended.

The London-listed firm said it had been informed by the Kurdistan Pipeline Company that the Iraq-Turkey pipeline had been shut-in, on the request of the Turkish authorities.

Genel noted that, based on statements made by both the Federal Iraq Ministry of Oil and Kurdistan Regional Government, it expected the suspension to be temporary, and that it was continuing to produce oil into storage facilities.

The stock still fell sharply on the update, however, and by 1000 BST the shares had lost 9% at 107.2p.

The suspension follows a ruling by the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration last week, which found favour of Iraq in the country's long-running dispute with Turkey.

Iraq considers Kurdish oil exports - which flow from the semi-autonomous region to the Turkish port of Ceyhan - illegal, and the two countries have been locked in dispute over the 1973 pipeline agreement for the last nine years.

Following the ruling, Genel said the Iraq Ministry of Oil had agreed to discuss the mechanisms of exporting Iraqi oil through Ceyhan with the relevant Kurdistan authorities. Kurdistan prime minister Masrour Barzani, meanwhile, also confirmed "recent understandings with Baghdad”, and said a delegation had visited the city "to build on the goodwill of our discussions".