North Oil Company initiates trial pumping in Iraqi-Turkish pipeline for oil export resumption
Shafaq News / A source within the Iraqi state-owned North Oil Company revealed on Friday the commencement of trial pumping in the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline to ensure its absence of leaks and overall readiness for the resumption of oil exports through the line extending from Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
The source informed Shafaq News Agency that "North Oil Company, under the directives of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, is working on preparing the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline extending from the oil fields of Kirkuk to the port of Ceyhan in Turkiye."
He added that "the rehabilitation of the Iraqi-Turkish oil pipeline and the pump station (IT1A) was carried out through self-efforts by the staff of the North Oil Company, with its trial operation initiated, along with the rehabilitation of the Iraqi-Turkish oil pipeline, which is 350 km long and has a diameter of (46, 40) inches, by the efforts of the oil companies' staff (North Oil Company and Oil Pipelines Company)."
The source clarified that "the pumping operation in the (IT1A) line of the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline was conducted within Iraqi borders and as part of the work of the North Oil Company, and did not extend into Turkish territory."
According to another source, "The North Oil Company completed the repair of the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline after it was sabotaged by ISIS, with the work including repairing the damaged sections, particularly between Kirkuk, Saladin, and Nineveh."
"Over the past months, the North Oil Company has been working on replacing the damaged parts with the assistance of the Oil Pipelines Department, which contributed to the work and completed the full repair of the pipeline, making it ready to transport any quantity determined by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil to resume crude oil exports from the Kirkuk fields to the port of Ceyhan in Turkiye."
The source explained that "the current production of the North Oil Company is 350,000 barrels per day, of which 10,000 barrels are allocated for export to Jordan and around 100,000 barrels for local refining and processing units in the refineries. Additionally, some private refineries in Erbil and al-Sulaymaniya are being equipped with specified quantities by the Ministry of Oil for refining and producing gasoline and other petroleum derivatives."
The source from the North Oil Company affirmed "the operation of the power station through the mobile station, as well as the trial operation of the main electric motors, in addition to providing electricity to the station sites."