KRG’s March oil exports halted 12 days

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) published the monthly crude oil export for March 2016.
According to the MNR report, in March, the KRG exported 10,148,487 barrels of crude oil, an average of 327,371 barrels per day (bpd), through the Kurdistan Region pipeline network to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey.
The MNR statement added that theft and sabotage occurred during 12 days in March, disrupting transportation. Since 2014, the pipeline carries Kurdish oil to the southern Turkish port city of Ceyhan to be sold on the international market.
“The buyers of the KRG crude oil lifted 10 cargoes (totaling 9,232,371 barrels) according to the volumes allocated to them under their contracts,” the MNR report added.
The KRG received more than $200 million from the oil exports and received $350 million in loans and prepayments, the total of $557,272,177. According to the report, the KRG allocated $36 million to the producers and nearly $4.3 million paid to Biwater Ltd on behalf of the Ministry of Municipality and Tourism.
In February 2016, the KRG exported more than 10 million barrels of crude oil, an average of 350,067 bpd. During the month, there were approximately 13 days of downtime for the export pipeline.
In January 2014, the Iraqi government, led by then-Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, cut off the Kurdistan Region's proportion of the federal budget, indirectly encouraging the autonomous region to sell crude oil in the world market independently.
Low oil prices have exacerbated the financial crisis in the Kurdistan Region, leading the government to be behind three months payment for civil servants in 2015 and one month in 2016.

Reporting by Baxtiyar Goran
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany