The Kurdish Regional Government's recent upgrade to its main Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline promises to boost transfer capacity from 700 thousand barrels to one million barrels per day, according to a Kurdish Regional Government's (KRG) Ministry of Natural Resources statement on Sunday.
According to the ministry's statement, this extra capacity from installing another pumping station in the Shaikhan region will accommodate future production growth from the KRG's producing fields, and can also be used by the federal government to export the currently stranded oil in Kirkuk and surrounding areas.
The oil route from the northern Iraqi region to Turkey's Ceyhan port, located in the Mediterranean coast of the Adana province in the country's southeast is via the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. The KRG oversees the transactions and transport of oil from the port to designated buyers.
The KRG currently exports over 400 thousand barrels of crude oil and aims to increase its production capacity further in 2019, the statement said.
The news came as Washington imposed the second phase of sanctions against Iran, which mainly target Tehran's oil trade. Despite an anticipated sanctions waiver for Turkey's oil imports from its neighbor, Iran, Turkey also lowered its volume of oil imports following the first phase of U.S. sanctions.
The KRG region is one of the main sources of oil for Turkey - a net oil importer.
- Output increases in Tawke and Peshkabir
Oil production from the KRG's Tawke and Peshkabir regions reached 126 thousand barrels per day, with a daily increase of 12 thousand barrels compared to July 2017, the statement read.
Daily crude oil production exceeded expectations from the Peshkabir region's oil well and increased to over 50 thousand barrels per day, up from production of 5 thousand barrels per day in July 2017, the statement said.
However, according to the statement, the recent boost in production in Peshkabir more than compensated for natural declines from the main Tawke field where production is now down to about 80 thousand barrels per day, from 109 thousand barrels per day in July 2017.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr