Pumping to Ceyhan on hold
Iraq seeks financial agreement with Kurds before pumping crude to Turkey
BAGHDAD, March 22, 2016
Iraq will not resume pumping crude through a Kurdish pipeline to Turkey unless it reaches a financial agreement with the Kurdish regional government, the Iraqi oil minister said.
Adel Abdul Mahdi confirmed on his Facebook page that the central Iraqi government decided to stop pumping crude from fields under the management of its state-run company in northern Iraq through the pipeline.
He said state-run North Oil Company previously fed 150,000 barrels a day into the pipeline that carries crude from the Kirkuk fields and other reservoirs managed by the Kurdish authorities to the Turkish Mediterranean terminal of Ceyhan.
"We have two options" in order to resume pumping, the minister said, demanding either a return to a previous oil agreement between Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government, or making a new agreement. -- Reuters
