Iraqi Kurdistan oil shipments to Turkey
stopped 14.6.2006 | |
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BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi oil
shipments to the Turkish port of Ceyhan have stopped pending a
report on the condition of the pipeline, an Oil Ministry spokesman
said.
Exports from the Kurdish city of Kirkuk had restarted Saturday after
months of no activity, and Iraq had managed to pump around 250,000
barrels a day of Kirkuk oil to the Turkish port. The shipments from
Iraq's North Oil Company were the first in months due to militant
attacks on oil facilities.
"The North Oil Co. started pumping oil to Ceyhan as a test to check
the condition of the pipelines and they pumped all the crude oil
stored for that reason late Tuesday. There was no problem at all and
we are waiting for the reports," spokesman Assem Jihad said.
He did not say when oil pumping would resume. |
Kurdistan oil fields in Kirkuk
Photo: AFP |
Persistent acts of sabotage by insurgents shut the northern export
pipeline for most of this year and last year. Before the U.S.-led
invasion, the pipeline used to export around 800,000 barrels a day
from the north.
Newly appointed Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani has said
that Iraq was targeting a sustainable export from the north of
50,000 to 100,000 barrels a day.
He has said the ministry plans to increase oil output from the North
to 1 million barrels a day in the next four years. He added the
target was achievable if a second, 26-inch diameter pipeline was
repaired and security boosted.
Iraq currently produces around 250,000 barrels a day in the north.
Reuters Top |
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