Oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan to the southern Turkish port of Ceyhan have started, the Turkish energy minister said on Thursday.

"The flow of oil from Iraq to Ceyhan has started and being stored in tanks," Taner Yildiz told local media.

But the minister said the Kurdish oil would not be shipped to international markets without the consent of Baghdad which insists that all energy sales should be via the central Iraqi government.

His comments came amid long-running tensions between Ankara and Baghdad over oil exports from the Kurdish region.

A senior ministry official told AFP that it was the first time that Iraqi Kurdish oil was shipped to Turkey through an oil pipeline controlled by Baghdad, which had so far been filled with crude from the south of Iraq.

The pipeline runs between Kirkuk in Iraq and Turkey's Ceyhan and operates well below its capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day.

Turkey is planning to increase the flow and wants to add additional more pipelines along the route.

Turkey, which has little natural resources of its own, depends on oil and gas imports from Russia and Iran, and has been seeking cheaper energy suppliers, with Iraqi Kurdistan seen as the best option.

But Kurdish authorities in Iraq have been embroiled in a lingering dispute with the central government as they seek ways of exporting their oil outside the control of Baghdad.

The dispute has paralysed development of new oil and gas projects in the region although last month Baghdad said it was optimistic about resolving the row.

This year, Iraq is planning to export 3.4 million barrels (per day) of crude oil: 3.0 million from the central government-run regions and 400,000 is from the Kurdistan region.
Iraqi officials said an extra 700,000 bpd would be produced for Iraqi consumption, bringing total output to 4.1 million bpd.

Turkey is keen on repairing ties with the central government after several years of tensions including Ankara's refusal to hand over fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, who faces a death sentence in Baghdad.

In November, Yildiz suggested that Ankara could serve as an independent intermediary by having Iraq's oil revenues deposited into an escrow account at a Turkish state bank.