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Page added on July 12, 2014
Iraq’s Kurdish Fighters Seize Kirkuk, Bai Hassan Oil Fields
Iraq’s Oil Ministry said Friday Kurdish Peshmerga forces had seized control of production facilities at two key oil fields near the northern city of Kirkuk, in a move that could further worsen already frayed relations between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Baghdad.
According to a statement published on the oil ministry’s website, Kurdish Peshmerga forces accompanied by a number of civilians took control of the Kirkuk and Bai Hassan oil fields at dawn Friday, expelling employees of Iraq’s Northern Oil Co.
Baghdad and the KRG are already at loggerheads, with oil at the center of the dispute. Since May, the KRG has been exporting 1-million-barrel tankers from the Turkish port of Ceyhan, infuriating Baghdad which claims sole authority over the country’s natural resources. Meanwhile, Kurdish forces have held control of the disputed town of Kirkuk since insurgents overran the nearby town of Mosul, though until now they haven’t sought control of the oil infrastructure.
The statement from the oil ministry, condemning the Peshmerga’s actions, is the latest in a salvo of barbed public comments between the KRG and Baghdad.
5 Comments on "Iraq’s Kurdish Fighters Seize Kirkuk, Bai Hassan Oil Fields"
JuanP on Sat, 12th Jul 2014 2:49 pm
I expected the Kurds to move in on these fields, after they moved in and took over the city of Kirkuk. It was a very predictable move. These fields and Kirkuk were in a hole in the borders of Kurdistan and were historically theirs. With these fields, and Turkish and Israeli support, Kurdistan becomes a potentially viable nation. This is a smart step for them to take on their way to becoming an independent nation state.
rockman on Sat, 12th Jul 2014 9:19 pm
Juan – And if you didn’t catch it before: the Kurds lack refining capacity and was dependent upon Baghdad. OTOH Israel has excess refining capacity and exports a large percentage of their output.
As Bogart once said: “Sounds like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Nony on Sat, 12th Jul 2014 10:38 pm
The Kurds are the North Dakotans of the Middle East. Far transport to markets. Expensive to get diesel to. 😉
Arthur on Sun, 13th Jul 2014 10:26 am
Iraq is a has been. And when the ‘central government’ in Bagdad realises that, it will volunteer to become a protectorate of Iran.
Not enirely sure how oil from Kirkuk can end up in Israel. I would think that neighbours Turkey and Iran have enough refining capacity. Besides, unrefined oil is still a highly valued product on world markets. Refining capacity is not the bottleneck, production of oil is.
rockman on Sun, 13th Jul 2014 3:30 pm
Arthur – “…to become a protectorate of Iran.”. I had not thought of that but it makes sense on various levels. Southern Iraq could become the “Crimea of Iran”. LOL.
As far as Turkey supplying the Kurds with anything: according to the EIA – In 2013, Turkey’s total liquid fuels consumption averaged 734,800 bbl/d. More than 90% of crude oil consumption and significant quantities of petroleum products came from imports.
And Iran: It has taken measures to import several million liters a day of gasoline to fill the gap between domestic supply and consumption, oil minister Bijan Zanganeh. The previous administration of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had insisted that the Islamic Republic had become self-sufficient in production of gasoline.
But Zanganeh, who was oil minister for eight years in the 1997-2005 government of Mohammad Khatami, said consumption of gasoline was outpacing production of the fuel. “At the moment, because gasoline consumption is a few million liters more than its production, we have taken action to import gasoline,” he said, quoted by official news agency IRNA. He did not say where the gasoline would come from.: