Iraq Oil Export Pipeline Hit by Bombing
Date: 09-Jul-03
Country: IRAQ
Author: Michael Georgy
The official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters Iraq was also facing what he called widespread "economic sabotage" along a pipeline from Iraq's southern oilfields.
"The Iraq-Turkey pipeline was sabotaged 36 hours ago," he said.
"It will take two weeks to repair if there are no new explosions and we still have several damaged areas on the pipeline that are still to be repaired from earlier explosions."
The bombing of the line from the Kirkuk oilfields to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan delivers a further blow to Iraqi hopes of raising crude exports, crucial to funding rebuilding.
The country has been hit by a series of pipeline blasts since the end of the war that ousted president Saddam Hussein and has yet to reopen the Kirkuk line.
"What we know is the saboteurs are digging in the sand beneath the pipelines and planting bombs," said the official.
The attacks have suppressed oil supplies with the only exports so far from crude held in storage at export terminals since before the war began.
In
Baghdad is planning to sell only eight million barrels, all from its southern fields, at a rate for the month of just 260,000 bpd. Before the war it was selling two million barrels daily.
The Iraqi official also said oil was being stolen and sold on the black market from a pipeline that carries crude from its southern fields to Baghdad.
"We recently discovered serious economic sabotage in the south along the Strategic Pipeline that connects the south and the north," he said.
"These criminals are piercing the pipeline, draining the crude, transporting it on road tankers through the Basra area. The crude is eventually taken to barges and is smuggled to Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates," he added.
He said Iraqi oil officials had asked the U.S. military to move quickly to stamp out the problem.
"We warned the Americans about the scale of the problem. If something is not done quickly it will be a big problem for the Iraqi oil industry," he said.
International investors and oil companies are keeping a close eye on Iraq's efforts to revive exports needed to finance the reconstruction of the country after years of war and economic sanctions.
The official said Iraq was expecting to produce only between 800,000-900,000 bpd by mid-, well below its previous target.
It is using about 300,000 bpd to run domestic refineries but is being forced to reinject some production in its northern fields while the Kirkuk export pipeline remains closed.
