Iraq has begun to increase its potential to export crude oil, with the long-awaited delivery of oil now under way via the country's northern pipeline system along with new and expanded transport facilities serving the country's southern fields.
Iraq's northern export pipeline system, which extends from the fields at Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean, began pumping Mar. 1 some 300,000 b/d of oil, vs. the 900,000 b/d it transported last March before the outbreak of the US-led war.
It's the first time the pipeline has been active since last year due to repeated acts of sabotage, which limited Iraq's oil export capacity to about 1.6 million b/d, all of it in the country's southern fields.
Exports from Ceyhan could resume by mid-March, depending on the amount of crude pumped through the pipeline as well as the amount already at the Turkish port, which has a storage capacity of 9 million bbl.
During a test held in late February, officials reported that 400,000-450,000 b/d of oil was shipped via the line; estimates of oil already on hand at Ceyhan are 2-4 million bbl.
Recent attacks
Officials said the recent pipeline activity has been under a news blackout because of continuing security concerns following two recent attacks by saboteurs.
On Feb. 27, an oil pipeline running between two refineries caught fire after coming under attack. The pipeline extends north from Daura refinery near Baghdad to the Baiji plant through al-Jazeera, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where most attacks against the US-led occupation forces have occurred.
While sabotage has focused on the north—targeting the export pipeline as well as the internal network between oil fields, refineries, and storage facilities—a recent attack near Kerbala raised fears that sabotage was spreading to the south.
The Feb. 22 explosion and fire took place on the Kirkuk-Baghdad-Basra pipeline near Al-Hare, a small town west of Karbala, about 70 miles south of Baghdad.
The attack was the first against a pipeline in southern Iraq since the US-led war began.
Due to blockage of the northern export route, Iraqi officials have been looking to boost the export potential from the south, with the most dramatic increase coming through improvements at the Khor al-Amaya export terminal.
Shamkhi Faraj, head of the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organization, said two of four existing jetties at Khor al-Amaya are operating at reduced capacity but together can load 300,000-400,000 b/d of oil. That additional capacity has raised Iraq's maximum export capacity to nearly 2 million b/d when added to the 1.6 million b/d maximum capacity of the main export facility at Basra.
Pipeline proposals
Iraqi officials have not indicated whether Khor al-Amaya will reach its full capacity anytime in the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, though, they are exploring new options for exporting oil via pipelines to the neighboring states of Iran and Kuwait.
Iraqi Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum last week said his country had agreed in principle to an offer from Iran to build a 10 km pipeline that would transport 350,000 b/d of oil across the Shatt al-Arab waterway to the Iranian port of Abadan.
Al-Uloum said the Iraqis faced no objection from the US over the proposed pipeline despite uneasy relations between Washington, DC, and Tehran. An official of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority said the issue had been left entirely to the discretion of the Iraqi authorities.
Iraq's oil minister said the cost of the pipeline would be determined after completion of a feasibility study in the next 2 weeks.
Al-Uloum expressed confidence that the pipeline project would be completed by yearend.
Meanwhile, Kuwait's Energy Undersec. Issa al-Oun announced that his country has "agreed to export 250,000 b/d of Iraqi oil through its terminals."
Al-Oun also said Kuwait and Iraq have formed a technical team to study the possibility of establishing a pipeline with a capacity to export up to 1 million b/d of Iraqi crude through Kuwaiti terminals.
Natural gas venture
In addition to the oil venture, the two countries further have agreed to relaunch a project to deliver Iraqi natural gas to Kuwait.
Al-Oun said the project could begin once an existing gas pipeline had been refurbished.
Kuwait received about 6 million cu m/day of gas from Iraq during 1986-90, but the agreement was terminated after former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990.
The gas came from Iraq's southern Rumaila field through a 200 MMcfd, 100 mile, 40-in. line, and was used in Kuwaiti electric power stations and LPG plants.
Al-Oun said the new gas project would be realized in two stages, with Kuwait importing an initial 50 MMcfd of gas, which would eventually increase to 200 MMcfd within 18 months.
Kuwait has been attempting to source greater supplies of gas to for use in the generation of electricity, water desalination, and petrochemical production.
Kuwait's switch from diesel oil to gas would free up a substantial amount of oil for export, possibly 100,000 b/d by 2006, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
