2 yıl önce

Turkiye restarts crude flows for key Iraq pipeline

Turkiye’s pipeline company, BOTAS, says the fire has been extinguished and that operations resume after necessary measures are taken.

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BOTAS said the fire had been fully extinguished late but gave no indication for what caused the blast.

Turkiye's state oil operator has restarted crude flows through a ruptured pipeline linking Iraqi energy fields with international markets.

A statement from Turkiye's pipeline company, BOTAS, said on Wednesday the oil flow resumed after “all necessary precautions” were taken.

The pipeline company said late on Tuesday the flow was disrupted after an explosion but it gave no indication for what caused the blast.

No one was hurt in the explosion on late Tuesday near the town of Pazarcik in Kahramanmaras province.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation.

Tuesday's unexplained blast along the Kirkuk-Ceyhan link in southern Turkiye contributed to a rise in international crude oil prices to a seven-year high.

The pipeline normally carries more than 450,000 barrels a day from oil fields in northern Iraq to a Turkish port on the Mediterranean Sea.

BREAKING: Explosion in #Iraq shuts down the 110,000 barrels of oil per day Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline. pic.twitter.com/tZNbBNCxr2
— Afshin Rattansi (@afshinrattansi) January 18, 2022

Oil prices jump

Brent crude futures rose $1.04, or 1.2 percent, to $88.55 a barrel by 0351 GMT, adding to the previous session's jump of 1.2 percent. The benchmark contract climbed to as much as $89.05, its highest since Oct. 13, 2014.

The blast occurred in wintery weather conditions in a sparsely populated region of southern Turkiye. Images on social media showed huge fireballs illuminating the night sky in snow-covered fields.

Local officials said the blast also halted traffic along a highway linking the southern cities of Adana and Gaziantep.

Crude exports from northern Iraq averaged 10 million barrels per month between October and December, Refinitiv Eikon shipping data showed.

So far, 5.2 million barrels have been loaded in January. The cargoes mainly head to refineries in Mediterranean countries such as Croatia, Greece, Italy and Spain, data showed.

The PKK, which has been designated a terrorist organisation by the US, the EU and Turkiye, has in the past bombed pipelines in the region, including the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.