Iraq’s southern oil production is inching up but northern exports through Ceyhan were halted for the second time this month as storage tanks ran dry after yet another pipeline stoppage. Meanwhile Lukoil’s West Qurna-2 field, one of the most anticipated new start-ups of the year, appears to have been delayed again.
The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline – operating at a fraction of its 1.6mn b/d design capacity for over a decade – has been offline for over a week, the second such stoppage this month. Storage tanks at the Turkish Mediterranean port are empty, with six tankers waiting to load Kirkuk, a shipping source tells MEES. The pipeline, the only conduit for northern Iraqi oil, was attacked on average once a week in 2013. (CONTINUED - 738 WORDS)
