Experimental pumping of oil into the pipeline from Kirkuk to Ceyhan port

A source in the Northern Oil Company, owned by the federal government, revealed on Wednesday that the repair process of the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline has been completed by 100%, indicating that a “trial” pumping of crude oil has been carried out into it, but the pumping operations have stopped based on government instructions related to resuming exports from Kirkuk fields to Ceyhan port.

The source explained to Shafaq News Agency that the North Oil Company completed the repair of the pipeline after it was sabotaged by ISIS. The work included repairing the damaged parts between Kirkuk, Salah al-Din and Nineveh, all the way to the Iraqi-Turkish border. He indicated that the company worked to replace the damaged parts and completed the repairs completely, so that the pipeline would be ready to transport any quantity specified by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil.

He added that the current production of the North Oil Company ranges between 300 and 375 thousand barrels per day, 10 thousand barrels are allocated for export to Jordan, and about 100 thousand barrels for local refining, in addition to equipping some private refineries in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah with quantities specified by the Ministry of Oil to produce gasoline and petroleum derivatives.

The source confirmed that the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline is now ready to transport oil from Kirkuk fields to Ceyhan port, as the North Oil Company conducted tests to pump oil in two stages, explaining that the initial pumping from Kirkuk fields to Baiji refineries was carried out successfully, while the second stage began from the pumping and collection station in Baiji, passing through the Ain Jahsh and Shura areas, arriving at the final pumping station in Dohuk, where oil was pumped and the various parts of the pipeline were monitored, which proved its readiness at 100%.

For his part, the Iraqi oil expert and specialist, Ali Khalil, told Shafaq News Agency that the experimental pumping process is an important step to assess the safety of the pipeline and the readiness of the pumping stations to transport oil from Kirkuk to Ceyhan, stressing that the stations were repeatedly sabotaged by ISIS, which makes completing the repairs a matter of utmost importance.

Khalil added that reaching an agreement to export oil between Baghdad and Ankara will contribute to settling technical issues related to the pipeline, and that Kirkuk is capable of managing about 300 thousand barrels per day, with the possibility of increasing this number according to the production of the North Oil Company, but the resumption of exports depends on negotiations between Baghdad and Ankara.

Shafaq.com