Kirkuk is one of the biggest and oldest oilfields in the Middle East. Last year Iraq began to ship crude from Kirkuk to Iran for use in its refineries, and Iran agreed to deliver the same amount of oil to Iraq’s southern ports.
Iraq will stop trucking crude from its northern Kirkuk oilfield to Iran in November to comply with sanctions imposed on its neighbor by the United States, five sources familiar with Iraqi oil export operations said on Friday.
TURKEY’S SIGNIFICANCE
Currently, Iraq is exporting less than 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) to Iran via truck. Iraq aims to raise its export capacity to 8.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in the coming years from less than 5 million bpd currently, 1 million of which could come via Kirkuk.
“Kirkuk oil trucking to Iran will be halted in November in line with the American sanctions against Iran. (State oil marketer) SOMO plans to sell 30,000 bpd from a small oilfield near Mosul as of November as an alternative. SOMO issued the tender on Thursday,” one source said.
With the new regulation, Turkey has taken on new significance. According to industry sources, Washington has pressured Baghdad to suspend all shipments of oil to Iran and resume flows from Kirkuk to Turkey.