FACTBOX-Insurgent attacks on Iraq's oil sector
08 Jun 2006 10:17:13 GMT
Source: Reuters
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June 8 (Reuters) - Iraq's oil sector -- hobbled by decades of war, sanctions and underinvestment -- may derive little benefit from the death on Thursday of Iraq's al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, analysts said. Relentless sabotage has so devastated infrastructure in the north of the country that oil exports from Iraq's giant Kirkuk field are unlikely to resume until early next year.
Before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the vital pipeline from Kirkuk to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan was shipping some 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) to world markets.
Insurgent strikes on the country's southern oil pipelines and terminal in 2004, by comparison, had little success.
Iraq now relies solely on its southern Basra oil terminal in the Gulf for exports. Bad weather and power cuts conspired to knock rates to just over one million bpd at the start of the year, but levels have since recovered to around 1.5 million.
Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, oil production has been stuck at 2 million bpd with exports of 1.5 million bpd. That compares to pre-war output of just under 3 million bpd and exports of around 2 million.
Following are some of the strikes on Iraq's oil industry:
June 7, 2006 - Four Iraqi oil employees were kidnapped as they return from checking on an oilfield near the northern oil hub of Kirkuk. No group claims responsibility.
Feb 2006 - A bomb tore open an oil products and fuel pipeline near the northern Iraqi refinery town of Baiji, disrupting supplies.
Jan 2006 - Insurgents blow up at least two pipelines feeding the main oil pumping station in Kirkuk, halting exports from the north that had only just resumed.
Dec 2005-Jan 2006 - Shipments of Basra Light from the Gulf drop to their lowest level since 2003 at 1.1 million bpd due to bad weather and logistical problems.
Oct 2005 - Four blasts hit a main gathering centre for at least four fields that feed the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, halting northern oil exports.
Oct 2004 - Jordanian militant Zarqawi threatens to attack foreign trucks carrying imports of oil products into Iraq.
Sep 2004 - The obscure "Followers of Zarqawi Group" claims responsibility for an attack on Iraqi oil pipelines near Kirkuk that halt crude exports to Turkey.
June 2004 - Saboteurs blow a hole in one of Iraq's southern oil export pipelines and disrupt shipments to world markets.
Apr 2004 - Statement from Zarqawi claims responsibility for a foiled suicide boat attack on Iraq's vital Basra oil terminal.
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