Turkey says has started work to repair oil pipeline with Iraq

ISTANBUL

Turkey has begun work to repair a pipeline taking crude oil from northern Iraq to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan and aims to restore flows in the shortest possible time, the Turkish energy ministry said on Feb. 27. 

“The pipeline was halted on Feb. 17 due to temporary security measures following sabotages of the terrorist [Kurdistan Workers Party] PKK,” the ministry said in a written statement. 

The outlawed PKK militants carried out a bomb attack on the pipeline in the Idil district of Şırnak province on Feb. 25, but a fire was avoided as the crude flow had already been halted, the ministry said. 

Turkish security forces had detonated explosives set at several points along the pipeline, it added. 

“Work has been launched to repair rapidly the damage caused on the pipeline and the necessary measures have been taken for the line’s security. It is envisaged that supplies will begin again in the shortest time,” it said in a statement. 

With the drop in global oil prices, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is already struggling to pay the salaries of its military arm, the Peshmerga, and other security forces from its oil export revenue. 

“Such attacks directly damage the welfare of the people of our region and harm the KRG’s ability to pay its Peshmerga and fund the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIL],” said the KRG in a statement earlier February.