Kurdistan and Turkey planned for oil pipeline maintenance 3 months ago, official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkey had informed Kurdistan Region that it was going to conduct a planned maintenance on the pipeline that carries the Kurdish oil exports to Turkey’s Ceyhan port, a source from the Kurdistan’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) told Rudaw, denying what the source called speculations that the oil halt is for political reasons.

The source said that the routine maintenance was planned three months ago, and originally was due in March, but the MNR and the state-owned Turkish company, Botas, that operates the Ceyhan pipeline agreed to “delay” the maintenance to April 10.

Oil exports may resume as early as Wednesday as the maintenance is expected to last 2-3 days, the source added. 

 

"At same time, NOC [is] taking the opportunity to repair a technical problem [with the] Kirkuk [pipeline], and so minimize overall disruption to flows," the MNR stated on Monday night.

There were news reports in the local media that suggested the halt on the oil export is due to the controversial raising of the Kurdistan flag over the state building in Kirkuk last month. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had warned last Tuesday that Kirkuk is not Kurdish alone, but also Turkmen and Arab, and that if the Kurdistan flag is not taken down in the city, a price will be paid.

The source denied the reports calling them misleading speculations. 

 

Oil exports from the region to Turkey’s Ceyhan port stopped on Monday, an official told Rudaw, revealing that Turkish authorities informed the Kurdish authorities about it. 
 
“The export of oil from Kirkuk and the Kurdistan Region has been halted upon a request from the Turkish side due to maintenance in the pumps, lasting three days,” Farhad Hamza, an engineer of the state-run Iraqi North Oil Company told Rudaw on Monday. 
 
Hamza said “the reason is a technical issue on the Turkish side. Turkish authorities have informed us of the halt until the problem is resolved.”
 
Hamza added the stoppage of the flow of oil into Turkey will damage both Turkey and Kurdistan, even Iraq.
 
He said the damage to the Kurdistan Region amounts to $23 million per day.
 
Between 550,000 to 600,000 barrels of oil are exported through the Kurdistan Region-Ceyhan port in Turkey daily.