IRBIL, Iraq — Iraq’s self-ruled Kurdish region officially started pumping crude oil to the international market Monday, a development that will boost Iraq’s cash-strapped economy.
The move could also bolster the Kurds’ political clout and ease tension with the central government that has threatened to erupt into new violence.
Kurdish leaders hailed the exports as a chance to make up for lost time in Iraq’s oil industry. The country sits on the world’s third-largest known oil reserves, but the industry has been devastated by sanctions, sabotage and insurgent attacks, as well as the inability of Iraqi politicians to agree on an oil and revenue sharing law.
"It is an important and historic day for Iraq when its people make use of their natural resources properly,” Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said during a ceremony in the regional capital, Irbil.
250K barrels a day
Nearly 100,000 barrels of oil were sent from the Taq Taq and Tawke oil fields to the national pipeline that carries it to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Previously, oil pumped in the region was used for domestic consumption.
About 40,000 barrels per day will initially be sent from Taq Taq, which is in a remote area of Irbil, with another 60,000 barrels a day from the Tawke field in nearby Dahuk province.
The two fields are expected to reach a total capacity of 250,000 barrels per day within a year and 1 million barrels per day in the coming two to three years, said Khalid Saleh, a spokesman for the Kurdish region’s Natural Resources Ministry.
by the associated press
The move could also bolster the Kurds’ political clout and ease tension with the central government that has threatened to erupt into new violence.
Kurdish leaders hailed the exports as a chance to make up for lost time in Iraq’s oil industry. The country sits on the world’s third-largest known oil reserves, but the industry has been devastated by sanctions, sabotage and insurgent attacks, as well as the inability of Iraqi politicians to agree on an oil and revenue sharing law.
"It is an important and historic day for Iraq when its people make use of their natural resources properly,” Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said during a ceremony in the regional capital, Irbil.
250K barrels a day
Nearly 100,000 barrels of oil were sent from the Taq Taq and Tawke oil fields to the national pipeline that carries it to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Previously, oil pumped in the region was used for domestic consumption.
About 40,000 barrels per day will initially be sent from Taq Taq, which is in a remote area of Irbil, with another 60,000 barrels a day from the Tawke field in nearby Dahuk province.
The two fields are expected to reach a total capacity of 250,000 barrels per day within a year and 1 million barrels per day in the coming two to three years, said Khalid Saleh, a spokesman for the Kurdish region’s Natural Resources Ministry.
by the associated press
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