Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline bombed, repairs start

PanARMENIAN.Net - Repairs have started on the bombed Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline and are expected to be completed in three days, Iraqi officials said on Tuesday, May 14, according to Reuters.

"After controlling the fire and emptying the pipeline on Monday, we have started repairs and we expect to finish replacing the damaged part of the pipeline and resume pumping in three days," an official with Iraq state-run North Oil Co. said.

The Iraq-Turkey pipeline, which carries oil from Iraq's Kirkuk oil fields, came under another attack on Monday, following a brief resumption of flows on Sunday evening after a six-day stoppage.

With no oil flowing through the pipeline, oil tankers at Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, the export outlet of Iraqi oil to world markets, could be delayed by up to 17 days, shipping sources said.

The flows on the pipeline, which has an official capacity of 1.6 million bpd, are regularly interrupted due to technical problems as well as attacks by insurgent groups on both sides of the border.