Middle East News
Official: Sabotaged Iraqi oil pipeline to be online in 72 hours
Dec 21, 2009, 8:24 GMT
Kirkuk, Iraq - An Iraqi official said Monday that it would take at least 72 hours to repair the oil pipeline between northern Iraq and Turkey that was damaged in a bomb blast.
Mazen Abdel-Jabbar, director of production at the Northern Oil Company, said workers were repairing the pipeline, which normally carries between 420,000-450,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) from fields west of the city of Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
Oil Ministry officials on Sunday confirmed that a bomb blast had knocked the pipeline out of production for the second time in two months.
On October 26, the same pipeline went offline for more than a week as a result of a bombing, halting oil exports from Iraq's northern oil fields, or roughly a fifth of the country's total production of 2.5 million bpd.
In the wake of the latest attack, the Oil Ministry appealed to international forces to increase their patrols of the pipeline to protect it.
Iraq, which depends heavily on oil exports for revenue, is hoping that the 10 international contracts awarded in a process that ended last week will eventually boost its oil production to 12 million bpd.
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, currently produces between 8 million and 8.5 million bpd.
COMMENT
blog comments powered by DisqusLatest Headlines in Middle East
- 1. Jerusalem prelate tells Arab Spring youth to have confidence
- 2. More than 100 killed in Syria ahead of ceasefire deadline
- 3. At least 43 killed in Syria, despite UN criticism
- 4. 19 killed in Syria as ceasefire deadline approaches
- 5. Pilgrims flock to Jerusalem for Easter, Passover
Older Talkback
