Iraq plans Kirkuk pipeline bypassing KRG

Iraq plans to build a crude oil export pipeline from Baiji to Fishkhabur on the Turkish border which will carry crude from Kirkuk field for export from the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Iraq’s Oil Ministry instructed interested companies and government agencies to prepare the papers required to participate in the project, which will be offered on a build-operate-transfer basis.

The pipeline will replace a line damaged by repeated sabotage and out of commission since 2014, bypassing a pipeline controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Last month Iraqi forces reclaimed Kirkuk from the KRG. Turkey has threatened to close its portion of the pipeline if Kurdish independence proceeds.

About 580,000 b/d of oil produced in Iraqi Kurdistan, half from Kirkuk field, now flows through two spurs in Kurdish territory which links with the trans-Turkey pipeline at Fishkhabur, according to the International Energy Agency