Recent attacks on the vital pipeline have again halted crude flows, leaving Baghdad unable to sell its Kirkuk oil for several more weeks.
Turkish officials say hundreds of the 5,000 Kurdish rebels belonging to KONGRA-GEL, a latest reincarnation of the PKK, thought to be in northern Iraq, mostly near the Iranian border, have returned to Turkey in recent months for attacks against security forces. In recent months, there has been an increase in rebel attacks despite a five-year truce which KONGRA-GEL said it ended on 1 June.
Turkish energy officials guess Iraq’s oil exports will now be limited to some 1.65m. brl/d of Basra Light from its southern Gulf terminals until enough Kirkuk oil accumulates in storage tanks at the port of Ceyhan. They said crude had not flowed from the pipeline since 31 May.
Iraq has consistently failed to meet its target of pre-war export levels of 2m. brl/d as its oil facilities have been hit by technical glitches as well as security problems. Repeated sabotage of the Iraq-Turkey pipeline has forced Iraq’s state oil marketers to pump limited quantities of Kirkuk oil to Ceyhan, and then issue tenders to sell the crude in batches of roughly 5m. brl. Tankers have just finished loading at Ceyhan from Iraq’s most recent Kirkuk oil tender, the third since the US-led war on Iraq, and roughly 2m. brl of Kirkuk oil remain in storage at the Turkish terminal.