Latest news with #Kirkuk
Zawya
7 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Syria seeks to revive Iraq oil pipeline
Syria's energy minister is planning to visit Iraq to push for the revival of the now-defunct pipeline that had carried crude oil from Iraq to a Syrian port on the Mediterranean Sea for many years in the past century. Mohammed Al-Bashir said he would meet officials in Baghdad for talks on the rehabilitation of the damaged 850-kilometre pipeline which would supply crude to Syria and also provide a new outlet for Iraq to market its oil. 'I will visit Iraq soon to discuss the rehabilitation of the oil pipeline which links Iraq's Kirkuk city with the Syrian Baniyas port,' Al-Bashir said, quoted by Iraq's Sumeria news agency. The agency said resuming oil flow through the pipeline would ensure sufficient crude supplies for Syria and allow it to slash a high bill of importing crude by tankers. Iraqi government spokesman Bassim Al-Awadi said in early 2025 that Baghdad is thinking of reviving the pipeline to expand export outlets. The pipeline, dating back to the early 1950s, linked Iraq's oil-rich Northern Kirkuk province with the Western Syrian port of Baniyas. It was crippled during the 1956 Suez crisis before it was rehabilitated in the following years. Between 1982 and 2000 Iraq shut the pipeline due to political rifts with Syria and it was crippled after it sustained heavy damages during the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. Over the past few years, Iraq has considered new outlets for its crude exports to lessen reliance on the risky Hormuz Strait and following the shutdown of a 970-km pipeline connecting Kirkuk with Ceyhan in Turkey due to rifts between Baghdad and Ankara. One of the alternatives was the construction of a multi-billion-dollar pipeline from the Southern Iraqi port of Basra to Aqaba port in South Jordan. The plan was proposed a few years ago but it was suspended due to financial and security reasons. 'The Iraq-Syria pipeline is one of the vital projects that shaped the oil industry in Iraq and the entire region,' Iraqi Prime Minister's spokesman Mudhar Saleh said in statements early this year. 'Iraq remains in need to revive plans to expand its oil export outlets through the Mediterranean for its European clients…but this issue requires negotiations between the two countries because the pipeline's part in Syria had been aggressively nationalised by Damascus,' Saleh added. Iraq, which controls the world's fifth largest proven oil deposits, is OPEC's second largest crude producer with current output of around 4.2 million barrels per day. It exports nearly 3.4 million bpd, mostly through the narrow Hormuz, the only gateway to the oil-oil Gulf. (Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
Zawya
16-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
19,000 barrels at heart of Iraq-Kurd oil export rift
Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have failed to reach agreement on the resumption of oil exports through Turkey because of a rift over 19,000 barrels per day (bpd), Iraq's oil minister has revealed. Hayan Abdel Ghani told the official Iraqi News Agency at the weekend that the two sides have agreed on most issues for the resumption of crude exports via the 970-kilometre Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline except the one related to Kurdistan's oil consumption. He said budget auditors in both Baghdad and Erbil have set Kurdistan's share of domestic demand at 46,000 bpd but KRG insists on 65,000 bpd, which will reduce crude exports by around 19,000 bpd. 'Some issues have obstructed the agreement reached between the two sides for the resumption of oil exports via main obstacle is that financial auditors from the two sides have set Kurdistan's share of refined oil (domestic consumption) at 46,000 bpd but KRG insists on 65,000 bpd,' Abdel Ghani said. He noted that after Parliament approved an increase in subsidy for oil production in the Northern region this year, KRG must hand over produced oil to the federal government for export, adding that the budget set that quantity at 400,000 bpd. In June, Baghdad accused KRG of smuggling out oil supplies and inflicting heavy losses on the country's coffers, adding that KRG has failed to deliver produced crude or oil export revenues to the federal government in Baghdad. Iraq, OPEC's second largest oil producer, has been locked in a dispute with KRG over crude exports despite Kurdistan's support for an initial agreement to subsidise production and transport of Kurdistan's oil at a rate of $16 a barrel. In February, Iraq's parliament approved a budget amendment to subsidise production costs for international oil companies operating in KRG in a move aimed at unblocking northern oil exports. The amendment sets the rate at $16 a barrel, up from an earlier proposal for $7.9 for transport and production costs, which was rejected as too low by KRG. 'Who can believe that the rift between Baghdad and Erbil now is only about 19,000 barrels of oil…I don't think this is a real problem…it can be easily resolved by splitting that amount between the two sides,' said Nabil Al-Marsoumi, an economics professor at Basra University in South Iraq. Oil flows through the KRG's pipeline were halted by Turkey in March 2023 after the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion for unauthorised exports by the KRG between 2014 and 2018. In May, Iraq deepened the rift when it declared its rejection of two major oil and gas contracts announced by KRG, branding them invalid under federal law. The disputed agreements involve the development of the Miran and Topkhana-Kurdamir fields in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraq's media reported, adding that Baghdad insists they cannot proceed without central government approval. Reports said earlier the Iraqi Oil Ministry decided to sue KRG over the deals. (Reporting by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon) (
LBCI
11-07-2025
- LBCI
Drones shot down near Iraqi Kurdish forces ahead of PKK disarmament ceremony
Two drones were shot down overnight near Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga bases, authorities said on Friday, hours before PKK fighters were to begin laying down their weapons at a ceremony in the autonomous region. Brigadier General Ahmed Latif, the spokesman for the peshmerga's 70th Unit in Sulaymaniyah, told AFP, "A drone flew over the command at 10:45 pm (1945 GMT on Thursday) and was shot down in an empty area," causing no casualties or damage. The Kurdistan counter-terrorism service reported that an "explosive-laden drone was shot down this morning, Friday... at 1:35 am (2235 GMT) near peshmerga positions in Altun Kupri in Kirkuk province," also without any casualties. AFP
Al Arabiya
11-07-2025
- Al Arabiya
Explosive drone downed near Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq's Kirkuk: Reports
An explosive drone was shot down near Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq's oil-rich province of Kirkuk early Friday, the Iraqi Kurdistan counterterrorism service said in a statement. Developing
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Yahoo
Three rockets of unknown origin fall in Iraq, Iranian media claim five drone strikes
Pro-Iran Iraqi outlet Sabereen News said that five drone strikes occurred, including two that hit an airbase in Iraq. Three rockets from an unidentified source fell on the northern city of Kirkuk in Iraq on Monday evening, Iraqi state-affiliated media reported, citing a statement from the Kirkuk International Airport Administration. Two of the missiles hit an Iraqi military airbase, while the third fell in a civilian area, Iraqi media reported. Security sources said at least two of the missiles were Katyusha rockets, which are of Russian origin. However, pro-Iran Iraqi outlet Sabereen News said that five drone strikes occurred, including two that hit the airbase, according to posts on social media. The drones resulted in a fire breaking out in the grass around the airbase, with videos of the blaze shared over social media. The fire was later extinguished by emergency services. One person sustained minor injuries from the attack. There was no damage caused to the airbase runway and airport facilities, and flight schedules were unaffected, the airport statement added. Earlier in June, several drones from unknown sources hit cities across Iraq, including a military base north of Baghdad, Camp Taji.
