The Kirkuk oilfields have been unable to export for months because Sunni insurgents have destroyed the main pipeline to Turkey and threatened any engineers sent to fix it. Hawrami said the only reliable way to resume exports was to connect Kirkuk to the separate pipeline operated and guarded by the Kurds.
He told Reuters:
"We agreed with the North Oil Company and Baghdad to link the three domes at Kirkuk and other adjacent fields to our export pipeline about three months ago, and the construction of the pipeline is already completed ...
"It needs to be tested and commissioned, but it should not take much time ...
"Baghdad agreed to link into our line as their own pipeline has been sabotaged so many times. It is now in territory wholly controlled by insurgents, and even if they could get it back it would take 6-12 months to repair it as it has been so badly damaged ...
"We need to have an agreement with Baghdad. We’re not going to start exporting oil from Kirkuk unilaterally."
The Kurdish export pipeline has a capacity of 300,000 bpd but the Minister said it could quickly be expanded, dismissing the idea that threats from Baghdad would keep firms from buying Kurdish oil.
(Source: Reuters)
Comments are closed.