Oil flow from Iraq set to resume soon

KIRKUK - Reuters

Pumping through the pipeline has been suspended since June 21. DHA photo

The flow of crude from Kirkuk in Iraq to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey will resume in two to three days after being interrupted for weeks due to a pipeline leak, two sources in Iraq’s state-run North Oil Company (NOC) said yesterday.

Pumping through the pipeline has been suspended since June 21 because of the leak in the Ain al-Jahsh area, around 290 km (180 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

A senior Turkish energy official said Iraq had given notice flows would resume by July 12.

“Iraqi officials told Turkey that the flow on Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline will resume by Friday at the latest, but it is possible that it may be delayed until after Friday,” the official said.

Flows through the pipeline, which has an official capacity of 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd), are regularly interrupted due to technical problems and attacks by insurgents.

“Every time we had a bomb attack, a quick fix was required to avoid disruption to exports from Ceyhan, but that’s not working anymore as parts of the pipe have become like a sieve,” an NOC official said on condition of anonymity. Work on the pipeline was suspended last month after unidentified militants ambushed a repair crew, killing two technicians and two members of the oil police, Iraqi security sources said.