Iraq Oil Exports Via Turkey Resume After Halt, Official Says
Crude exports from northern Iraq through the Turkish port of Ceyhan resumed after a three-day halt caused by sabotage to the pipeline network in Turkey, an official from Iraq’s North Oil Co. said.
Exports began today at a rate of 400,000 barrels to 500,000 barrels a day, Ziad Ahmad al-Obaidi, an official from the state- run company’s production unit, said in an e-mailed statement. He provided no details about the sabotage.
Iraqi crude shipments from Ceyhan have been halted eight times since the end of November due to technical reasons, bad weather or attacks and other sabotage, according to Iraq’s Oil Ministry.
Iraq holds the world’s fifth-largest crude deposits, according to data from BP Plc that also include Canadian oil sands. The country pumped 2.75 million barrels a day in January, data compiled by Bloomberg show, and is the fourth-biggest producer in OPEC. The bulk of Iraq’s exports are tanker cargoes loaded at southern terminals and shipped from the Persian Gulf.
Iraq currently ships crude at an average rate of 1.7 million barrels a day from the southern region of Basra, Falah al-Amri, chairman of the State Oil Marketing Organization, said today.
“Loading operations at southern ports are taking place normally,” he said in a telephone interview in Baghdad.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kadhim Ajrash in Baghdad at kajrash@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net
Rate this Page