Iraq plans to build new section of Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline

Iraq plans to build a new pipeline that will ship oil from Kirkuk’s oilfields to the Ceyhan port in Turkey, the oil ministry said in a statement..

The new pipeline will replace an old and severely damaged section of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. It will start from the nearby city of Baiji city and span until the Fish-Khabur border area with Turkey, the ministry added.

Iraq stopped shipping oil through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in 2014 after the region was overrun by ISIS militants and subsequently recaptured by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces over the past two years, Reuters recalls.

Exports from oilfields in Kirkuk have been on hold since Iraqi government forces took control of them from the Kurds last month in retaliation for a Kurdish referendum on independence which was widely opposed by Turkey, Iran and Western powers.

The Kurdish region operates a pipeline that connects to the twin Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline at Khabur on the border with Turkey.