Kirkuk–Ceyhan Oil Pipeline

Iraq is still in talks with Turkey and Kurdish regional authorities to resume Kirkuk oil exports through the Ceyhan port, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi told state-run newspaper al-Sabah on July 2.

Iraq on Dec. 24 invited companies to submit statements of interest in building a new pipeline from the northern city of Kirkuk to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

A number of explosions have hit important energy pipelines in eastern and southeastern Turkey over the past month. Unless the required measures are taken to halt such attacks, they will have a devastating impact on Turkey?s strategic target of becoming a reliable energy corridor or energy hub in the future. 

An explosion has hit the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars-Erzurum gas pipeline in eastern Turkey, a provincial governor has told Anadolu Agency.

Günay Özdemir, the governor of northeastern Kars province, said the blast happened in the early hours of Aug. 4 at a section of the pipeline located in the Sar?kam?? district. Gas flow was cut in nearby Ya?basan village for safety reasons.

Turkey has halted the flow of oil in the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, which was damaged in a suspected sabotage act inside its territory near the border with Iraq, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported on Wednesday.

The Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline has been attacked in the eastern province of ??rnak, Turkish Energy Taner Y?ld?z said on July 29, as reported by Anadolu Agency.     

In a statement released by the Energy Ministry, Y?ld?z said the suspected sabotage bombing took place 18 kilometers inside the Cizre district of ??rnak province, next to the border with Iraq.

Turkey is well placed and an increasingly significant hub for oil and natural gas transit from the Middle East, Central Asia and Russia to Europe and the Atlantic, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has said.