Shafaq News-Kirkuk
Iraq'sstate-run North Oil Company has completed the technical and engineering workneeded to begin receiving and pumping crude in Kirkuk through the strategicpipeline running to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, the company said on Saturday.
The first stepis filling the 40-inch line to carry crude to the IT1A pumping station, afterwhich oil will be pumped through the 46-inch line for a full-load trial runconducted with the relevant authorities.
IT1A is readyto receive and pump between 300,000 and 350,000 barrels per day, according tothe company, as part of preparations to resume exports through the northernsystem.
What The RouteWould Change
The northernoutlet matters because Iraq currently depends almost entirely on its southernports for crude exports, according to Ali Khalil, an oil and energy specialistwho spoke to Shafaq News. Restarting shipments through Ceyhan would give thecountry a second strategic export route, add flexibility, cut transport costsand improve the economics of the northern fields, he said.
North OilCompany produces around 325,000 barrels per day from fields in Kirkuk provinceand adjacent areas. Most of that volume currently goes to domestic refineriesand to supplying other oil installations, which Khalil said makes reopening thenorthern export outlet necessary to absorb any future rise in output.
“The announcedcapacity of IT1A, at 300,000 to 350,000 barrels per day, roughly matches thecompany's present production, meaning the line could carry most of the crudefrom Kirkuk's fields once fully in service.”
Khalilexplained that a successful full-load trial would clear the way for exportvolumes to be raised gradually, and development projects run by the OilMinistry and the company, alongside new investment plans in the Kirkuk fields,“could push production above current levels, which in turn would require exportinfrastructure capable of handling the increase.”