Iraq’s oil minister Hashem al-Hashemi said that exports via the northern pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan would not be resumed for 8-12 months due to sabotage. Terror attacks against Iraq’s oil infrastructure are tracked here.
Exports via a pipeline to the Ceyhan terminal on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast resumed only for a few days in January. Exports had already been halted for weeks by a major attack in October.
Iraq’s exports sunk to their their lowest level since 2003 in December and January at about 1.1m barrels per day (bpd). Mr Hashemi told Reuters Iraqi oil exports for March were expected to reach 1.5m bpd.
Iraq is not the only place oil infrastructure is under attack. Islamic terrorists have identified the world energy system as the Achilles’ heel of the West and have made attacking it a central part of their plan.