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KRG: Oil theft and sabotage threaten vital pipeline
Thursday, 20 August, 2015
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has said the theft and sabotage on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, which transports crude from the Kurdistan region to Turkey, continues to damage the welfare of the people of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
In statement released Wednesday by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the KRG reported that the vital pipeline is regularly targeted by organized gangs that steal oil.
“Following the blast on the pipeline in Turkey at the end of the July, the KRG noticed clear public assurances from those involved that such an attack would not be repeated,” read the statement.
KRG added that “from July 1 to August 17, crude oil flows from the Kurdistan region have been regularly interrupted because of the damage caused by ‘hot-tapping’ the pipeline and stealing oil.”
The repeated damage has an estimated cost of $251 million, the regional government said. These losses are in addition to the $250 million caused by the explosion at the end of July in southeast Turkey that was claimed by an armed splinter wing of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK).
“The Kurdistan region of Iraq faces an economic crisis due to the budget shortfall from Baghdad, the fight against terrorism, the burden on the economy of hosting 1.8 million refugees and internally displaced people, and the drop in the oil price by over 50 per cent since the end of 2014,” KRG said.
According to Kurdish authorities, the sabotage attack on the Kurdistan oil pipeline has impaired the KRG’s ability to pay the June salaries of government’s employees.
The KRG called on the perpetrators to stay away from the Kurdistan region’s critical revenue stream and has demanded the halt of any oil theft from the pipeline.
On July 29, the official website of the armed wing of the PKK in Turkey, the People’s Protection Forces (HPG), claimed its forces had carried out a sabotage operation against the pipeline in the area between Silopi and the Cizre district, both in Sirnak, where the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline passes.
The PKK said the attack was carried out without approval of the party’s leadership.
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Thursday, 20 August, 2015
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has said the theft and sabotage on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, which transports crude from the Kurdistan region to Turkey, continues to damage the welfare of the people of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
In statement released Wednesday by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the KRG reported that the vital pipeline is regularly targeted by organized gangs that steal oil.
“Following the blast on the pipeline in Turkey at the end of the July, the KRG noticed clear public assurances from those involved that such an attack would not be repeated,” read the statement.
KRG added that “from July 1 to August 17, crude oil flows from the Kurdistan region have been regularly interrupted because of the damage caused by ‘hot-tapping’ the pipeline and stealing oil.”
The repeated damage has an estimated cost of $251 million, the regional government said. These losses are in addition to the $250 million caused by the explosion at the end of July in southeast Turkey that was claimed by an armed splinter wing of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK).
“The Kurdistan region of Iraq faces an economic crisis due to the budget shortfall from Baghdad, the fight against terrorism, the burden on the economy of hosting 1.8 million refugees and internally displaced people, and the drop in the oil price by over 50 per cent since the end of 2014,” KRG said.
According to Kurdish authorities, the sabotage attack on the Kurdistan oil pipeline has impaired the KRG’s ability to pay the June salaries of government’s employees.
The KRG called on the perpetrators to stay away from the Kurdistan region’s critical revenue stream and has demanded the halt of any oil theft from the pipeline.
On July 29, the official website of the armed wing of the PKK in Turkey, the People’s Protection Forces (HPG), claimed its forces had carried out a sabotage operation against the pipeline in the area between Silopi and the Cizre district, both in Sirnak, where the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline passes.
The PKK said the attack was carried out without approval of the party’s leadership.
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