Crews have finished testing a 500,000-barrel per day pipeline covering a section of the northern export route and a special security force numbering thousands is being deployed to guard the network, Shahristani told Reuters.
The pipeline runs from the oil center of Kirkuk to the refining center of Baiji, around 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast. Exports are initially planned at 300,000 bpd, rising to 500,000 bpd, the minister said.
Regular northern flows would raise Iraqi exports, which averaged 1.7-1.8 million bpd in July, to 2.2 million bpd. This is still less than 1990 levels, when crushing United Nations sanctions were imposed on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait. -Neftegaz.RU
