Iraq, Turkey ink new 15 year Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline deal
Monday, 20 September 2010
Iraq and Turkey signed a new 15 year agreement Sunday for Iraq to export oil from its Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan through the 970 km (600 mile) northern oil pipeline.
The agreement also includes an option to extend exports by a further five years.
"This will ensure Iraq exports 1 million b/d [through the northern oil pipeline] in the coming years," oil minister Hussein Shahristani said at the signing ceremony in Baghdad.
He added the ministry had placed high importance on repairing and maintaining the parallel pipelines, which have a total capacity of 1.6 million b/d, linking the Kirkuk oil fields with Ceyhan, as well as increasing output from the Kirkuk oil fields According to the most recent data from Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization, the country exported a total of 329,000 b/d through the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in August.
Shahristani also said Turkey had agreed "not to touch" the Iraqi oil, a reference to sanctions-era debts.
The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline is one of two key export routes for Iraqi crude oil, the bulk of which is exported from the southern ports of Basra and Khor al-Amaya.
Source: Platts
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The Pipeline Kirkuk-Ceyhan:
