Police reinforcement sent to Kirkuk oil fields under KRG administration
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A Peshmerga Commander on Sunday revealed police reinforcements had been sent to oil fields in Kirkuk currently administrated by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Ali Mahmoud, a Peshmerga Commander on the Duz frontline, southern Kirkuk, said due to movements by the Islamic State (IS) and fears of an attack on the oil fields, support had been sent to protect the area.
“[IS] extremists have been making small movements in the area to execute bombings; therefore, more police forces were sent,” the Peshmerga Commander told Xendan, a local Kurdish news outlet.
“These police forces will protect the oil fields because IS extremists previously targeted Bay Hassan oil fields, and we have information that they want to launch further attacks,” Mahmoud said.
On July 31, Peshmerga forces repelled IS attacks on Bajwan and Bay Hassan oil and gas fields located in the northwest of Kirkuk Province, Kurdistan Region.
The Iraqi Oil Ministry released a statement on Friday regarding “control over the administration” of oil fields in Kirkuk.
“The ministry tried to restore control over the administration of all other oil fields in Kirkuk which were under the charge of the government-owned North Oil Company (NOC) before IS entered Iraq,” the report explained.
On Aug. 29, the KRG and the Iraqi government agreed to jointly export Kirkuk oil via the Kurdistan Region pipelines to Turkey with both sides allocating Kirkuk’s financial dues.
This move by the KRG and the Iraqi government angered some members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
On Sep. 7, Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, a member of the PUK Political Bureau, and wife of former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani asked Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi to stop the exportation of Kirkuk oil via Kurdistan pipelines.
“We reject the exportation of 100,000 barrels of oil per day, and we demand Iraq stop the exports within five days,” she stated.
“Otherwise, we will take other measures available in hand to stop the oil export,” Ahmed concluded.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany