Iraqi Kurd oil exports possible

The pipeline that could pump northern Iraqi oil for export is nearly complete but empty, ending for now in the soil near the borders with Syria and Turkey, on the side of a dirt road.

Across the dirt road are the buried pipelines that carry oil from Iraq’s second-largest oil hub, Kirkuk, to the Iraqi government’s oil export metering station guarded by Iraqi Kurdish forces less than a half mile up the dirt road, and on to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Norwegian company DNO’s oil and the idled pipeline await the outcome of ongoing negotiations between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal Iraqi government to give it permission to export.

Both sides’ oil officials say they are ready to sign an export deal, but there has been no agreement yet. If one is reached, it could add 1 million barrels per day to the market within five years — half of Iraq’s total exports now — according to KRG estimates.

Energy Daily