Crude oil is flowing through the Kurdish-controlled Iraq-Turkey pipeline at 650,000-700,000 b/d and the line’s pumping capacity will be lifted to 1 million b/d by 2016, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s natural resources minister said Tuesday. Ashti Hawrami, speaking at a Kurdistan oil conference in London, said: “We could have been there by now with IS [Islamic State militant group] in 2014, stopped work and halted activities. Particularly explorers slowed construction”, he said. Although more than a year behind schedule, Hawrami was confident the increase would be completed in 2016. “To do that, we need to ensure the oil companies are being paid. We should not fall back on that”, he said. The KRG has faced difficulties making regular payments to international oil company contractors looking to recover their costs. The companies, in turn, have struggled to justify further capital expenditure. Article continues below… Platts Global Alert is a complete […]