Iraq to reopen oil pipeline to Turkey, bypassing one in Kurdistan

FILE PHOTO: Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi speaks during a media conference with Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih (not pictured) in Baghdad, Iraq, May 22, 2017. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily /File Photo

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq will reopen an old crude oil pipeline to Turkey which bypasses one operated by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the oil ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Iraq’s oil minister, Jabar al-Luaibi, has asked state-owned North Oil Co., the operator of the Kirkuk fields, the State Company for Oil Projects and the state pipeline company to begin the process of restoring and reopening the Kirkuk Ceyhan pipeline.

The Kirkuk Ceyhan pipeline crosses territory taken by Islamic State militants in 2014 and recaptured by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces over the past two years.

Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli and Ahmed Rasheed, editing by Louise Heavens

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