Category: Iraq

Iraq’s Oil Ministry said Friday that Kurdish Peshmerga forces had seized control of production facilities at two key oil fields near the northern city of Kirkuk, in a move that could further worsen already frayed relations between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Baghdad. According to a statement published on the Iraqi oil ministry’s website, Kurdish Peshmerga forces accompanied by a number of civilians took control of the Kirkuk and Bai Hassan oil fields at dawn Friday, expelling employees of Iraq’s central-government controlled North Oil Company. "The ministry strongly warns the Kurdistan region about the seriousness of this irresponsible behavior," the statement said, adding that there could be "serious consequences" if the Kurdish forces didn’t withdraw from the oil fields. Kurdish forces have held control of the disputed and oil-rich town of Kirkuk since insurgents overran the nearby town of Mosul, though until now they have not […]

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The IEA says Iraqi Kurdistan is pumping around 120,000 barrels a day to the Turkish port of Ceyhan via a pipeline. Here, a worker performs checks at the Turkish oil port. Reuters Oil production from the Kurdistan region of Iraq increased by more than 50% last month, despite violence in the country’s north and as logistical problems at the port of Basra cut exports from the south. The shifting nature of Iraq’s oil sector reflects political developments in the country. In a bid to gain greater independence, the Kurdistan Regional Government has taken advantage of its relative stability to increase oil exports in the past two months, infuriating Baghdad which claims sovereignty over the country’s natural resources. Meanwhile, the federal government is struggling to contend with a Sunni extremist insurgency in the north and west, led by the group that calls itself Islamic State, that has shut the country’s […]

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Kurdish forces in northern Iraq are called on to take on terrorist groups rather than seize control of oil operations, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said Friday. Kurdish forces, known as Peshmerga, took control over two key oil facilities in the north of Iraq. The seizure comes after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused Kurds of being on the wrong side of the fight against a growing Sunni insurgency. The Iraqi Oil Ministry said Friday the Kurdish force is called on to "support security forces in confronting terrorist groups rather than using the conditions to raid and occupy oil fields." Already fragile ties between the federal government in Baghdad and the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government have been strained further in the wake of the declaration by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria of a caliphate in parts of northwestern Iraq. ISIS militants declared they took over a refinery in […]

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Iraq ’s semi-autonomous Kurds increased their control over oil resources in the north of the country after deploying armed forces to the Kirkuk and Bai Hassan oilfields. Kurdish Peshmerga forces took control of the two sites at the country’s fourth-biggest oil field today and ordered workers from Iraq’s state-run North Oil Co. to leave, the Oil Ministry said in an e-mailed statement. The Kurdistan Regional Government said in response that it acted to prevent the central government damaging an oil export pipeline. The Oil Ministry in Baghdad denied the claim. “Given the political context, the Kurds are solidifying their control,” Richard Mallinson, an analyst at consultants Energy Aspects Ltd., said by e-mail from London . “The Kurds have signaled their intentions to start moving Kirkuk oil through their pipeline network,” and this is another step toward making their ambitions a reality, he said. Iraq’s minority Kurds, who historically have […]

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BAGHDAD/KIRKUK (Reuters) – Kurdish forces seized two oilfields in northern Iraq and took over operations from a state-run oil company on Friday, while Kurdish politicians formally suspended their participation in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government. The moves escalated a feud between the Shi’ite-led central government and the autonomous Kurdish region driven by a Sunni insurgency which threatens to fragment Iraq along sectarian and ethnic lines three years after the withdrawal of U.S. troops. The Kurdish forces took over production facilities at the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oilfields near the city of Kirkuk, the oil ministry in Baghdad said. It called on the Kurds to withdraw immediately to avoid "dire consequences". Kurdish forces took control of nearby Kirkuk a month ago after Iraqi troops withdrew in the face of a lightning assault by Islamic State militants, who have seized large parts of northern and western Iraq. The two oilfields have […]

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Iraq should boost southern crude exports this month even after an armed insurgency disrupted the nation’s northern oil operations, according to the International Energy Agency. Shipments from Iraq’s southern region should recover this month to about 2.6 million barrels a day, compared with 2.42 million in June, barring technical problems, the Paris-based IEA said today. The increase will come from oil in storage tanks at Fao and added capacity from the West Qurna 2 and Majnoon fields. Production from the northern Kurdistan region surged last month even as the conflict escalated, the IEA said. “Iraq’s southern oil fields have so far remained untouched by the violence sweeping through the north and west,” the IEA said in its monthly oil market report. “The risk remains that militants will target the region’s vital infrastructure and cause a substantial or lengthy disruption.” Iraqi crude production fell to 3.17 million barrels a day […]

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KRG takes Kirkuk, Bai Hassan fields The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has dispatched its armed forces and civilian staff to take over nearly the entire North Oil Company (NOC) early Friday, telling workers they are now in charge of the Kirkuk, Bai Hassan and other fields with nearly 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) of production capacity.The mobilization of Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers and civilian oil engineers comes after the Oil Ministry demanded NOC workers dismantle the valves of a KRG-installed pipeline connecting KRG-c… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

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The Kurdish government of Iraq said it may take legal action against any entity buying oil from the federal government because of constitutional issues. The semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq said it’s entitled under provisions in the national constitution to 17 percent of all oil sales made by the federal government. "The federal Oil Ministry and State Organization for Marketing of Oil continue to sell and to seek to sell oil, gas and other petroleum products to third parties, and to retain the full proceeds of such sales, all in violation of the KRG’s express constitutional and legal rights, and without the participation or approval of the KRG," the Kurdish government said in a statement Wednesday. Because the federal government isn’t sharing revenue, the Kurdish government said buyers are also complicit in the violations and therefore may be subject to legal action. The Kurdish government has sent several […]

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Iraqi security forces found 53 corpses, blindfolded and handcuffed, south of Baghdad on Wednesday as Shi’ite and Kurdish leaders traded accusations over an Islamist insurgency raging in the country’s Sunni provinces. Officials said dozens of bodies were discovered near the mainly Shi’ite Muslim village of Khamissiya, with bullets to the chest and head, the latest mass killing since Sunni insurgents swept through northern Iraq. "Fifty-three unidentified corpses were found, all of them blindfolded and handcuffed," Sadeq Madloul, governor of the mainly Shi’ite southern province of Babil, told reporters. He said the victims appeared to have been killed overnight after being brought by car to an area near the main highway running from Baghdad to the southern provinces, about 25 km (15 miles) southeast of the city of Hilla. The identity and sectarian affiliation of the dead people was not immediately clear, he said. Sunni militants […]

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Iraq oil exports drop in June Oil exports from Iraq averaged 2.423 million barrels per day (bpd) in June, a 157,000 bpd decline from May averages and the lowest since March, when the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP) was taken offline by insurgents.For the past four months Iraq has only been able to export from the Basra Gulf, via the al-Basra and Khor al-Amaya oil terminals (ABOT and KAAOT) and the three single point mooring (SPM) buoys, as violence in the north kept the Turkey pipeline shut and cut off the tanker trade by roa… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

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