Iraq Oil Exported From Storage, No Pipe Flow - Agent
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
September 6, 2004 1:49 a.m.
Corrected September 6, 2004 06:06 ET (10:06 GMT)
DUBAI -- Iraq's northern oil exports continue from storage tanks at its Mediterranean terminal despite an attack on the country's northern pipeline last Thursday that halted the flow of crude through the pipeline, a port agent said Monday.
"The pumping stopped on Thursday, there isn't any new oil coming through - it was quite a big explosion" said the agent at the oil terminal in Ceyhan, Turkey, through which Iraq exports Kirkuk crude.
The fire was caused by saboteurs who detonated explosives Thursday on the pipeline about 60 kilometers southwest of Kirkuk, in what one official described as the worst attacks on northern oil infrastructure since the U.S.-led invasion last year.
The pipeline has pumped on average around 400,000 barrels a day over the past two weeks.
Exports continue at the Mediterranean terminal from the 7.3 million barrels of oil stored at the facility, the agent said.
Vitol (VTL.YY) is scheduled to load 1 million bbl of Kirkuk crude over the weekend for its North Atlantic Refinery unit, the agent said.
Turkish refinery company Tupras (TUPRS.IS) is expected Monday to start pumping 600,000 bbl of the sour grade to its Kirikale refinery, linked to Ceyhan port by a 447 kilometer pipeline. Another 1 million bbl is scheduled to sail to a Portuguese refinery on Sept. 17th, the agent said.
Meanwhile, exports from the south continue as normal, said a port agent in the Persian Gulf.
Monday morning, the flow rate through the south's two offshore export terminals stood at 75,000 barrels an hour, the equivalent of 1.8 million b/d.
Three vessels were loading crude oil, two at Basra oil terminal and another at the nearby Khor al-Amaya terminal, the agent said.
Exports have remained steady between 70,000-75,000 bbl/hr since Saturday, when saboteurs blew up a small pipeline near Basra.
Iraq has a surge capacity of up to 2 million b/d through its southern terminals, but exports usually average 1.6-1.7 million b/d.
- By Simeon Kerr, Dow Jones Newswires; 971 4 390 8134; simeon.kerr@dowjones.com (Abdulla Fardan in Bahrain contributed to |
