The central Iraqi government started to repair the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline connecting oil fields near the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq with Turkey's Mediterranean oil terminal in Ceyhan, the Iraqi Oil Ministry announced on Tuesday.
Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar Ali Hussein Al-Luiebi ordered the repair for the resumption of oil exports to overcome the financial and economic difficulties in Iraq.
Crude oil from northern Iraq is pumped via the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan Port on the eastern Mediterranean coast, from where it is exported to foreign markets.
"The Minister of Petroleum has ordered that the Kirkuk oil pipeline pass through the cities of Salahaddin and Mosul and that oil exports to Turkey's Ceyhan port be restarted," the Iraqi Oil Ministry's statement read.
In addition, a written statement from the Iraqi oil ministry spokesperson Asim Jihad said the minister ordered the repair of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline to transport crude oil after gains were made against the terrorist organization DAESH in Kirkuk, Salahaddin and Mosul.
Jihad noted that Iraq wants to regain 250 to 400 thousand barrels of oil export capacity daily and also wants to avail of new opportunities for energy exports from the north of the country.
There are five oil wells in the oil-rich Kirkuk region, two of which are controlled by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).
Unidentified attackers on several occasions blew up the strategic Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province.
Iraq is the second-largest crude oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after Saudi Arabia, and holds the world's fifth largest proved crude oil reserves after Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and Iran, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Reporting By Haydar Hadi in Baghdad
Writing By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
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