The flow of crude oil from Iraq's Kirkuk oil fields to Turkey's Mediterranean export terminal of Ceyhan has been on hold since Thursday, two Middle East shipping agents said Monday.
The flow of crude oil from
Iraq
's
Kirkuk
oil fields
to
Turkey
's
Mediterranean export terminal of Ceyhan has been on hold since Thursday, two
Middle
East
shipping agents said Monday.
The two agents said they believed the suspension was caused by an act of
sabotage on the northern export pipeline inside
Iraq
.
"The pumping stopped since 2000 local time [1700 GMT] Thursday," said
a Ceyhan-based shipping agent, adding loading of Iraqi crude at Ceyhan has
stopped because there is only approximately 600,000 barrels at the port, which
aren't enough to load.
Iraq
usually pumps an average of 480,000 barrels a day, or around a quarter of its
total oil exports, through the northern pipeline to customers in
Turkey
and
Europe
, but
in July moved only 374,000 barrels a day because of attacks.
The 970-kilometer pipeline has been repeatedly targeted by suspected insurgents
in recent months, often halting pumping.
Earlier this month, a blast attack inside
Turkey
believed to be carried out by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as
the PKK, halted export through the pipeline for more than a day.
A similar attack inside
Turkey
halted exports for three days last month, and the pipeline has also suffered
over the last few months from attacks inside
Iraq
.
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