Looting sets back Iraq oil output targets again

“In some areas it is getting worse rather than better. What we anticipate on production may not be attainable if the security situation makes repairs impossible.” Thamir Ghadhban, Iraq’s de facto oil minister, said later in an interview: “This is more than a restoration process. Peoples’ lives are at risk.” The country now is pumping only 310,000 bpd compared to 2.5 million bpd before the war, an official said. It needs 550,000 bpd to meet domestic energy needs before it can resume deliveries abroad to start financing the rebuilding of its shattered economy.

Until production rises, exports will be limited to small volumes held in storage since the war started at the Turkish Port of Ceyhan, outlet for the pipeline from northern Iraq’s Kirkuk fields. The official said Kirkuk now was pumping 230,000 bpd with the southern Rumaila fields, worst hit by looting, at just 80,000 bpd.

Ghadhban said lack of security meant that newly-repaired facilities were vulnerable to further looting. Sending crews to rebuild installations was risky and time consuming. “It takes a week or two to arrange the security with the US forces on the ground before we can send a crew to assess a pipeline,” Ghadhban said. “It takes a lot of coordination.”

The southern fields have suffered the heaviest looting. The Garmat Ali water intake station, used to inject water into the Rumaila field was out of action. A new pumping station is required to increase production but has not yet delivered.