Genel Energy has completed the pipeline infrastructure to export crude oil from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to Turkey
During Q4 2013, the final phase of the export pipeline infrastructure from Dohuk to Fishkabur was completed and tied in to the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline via a new metering station within the Region. Since then, commissioning and line-fill operations have been progressing parallelly. Test flows commenced in December 2013 and the first oil through the new pipeline reached Ceyhan in Turkey in early 2014, Genel said.
Tony Hayward, chief executive of Genel Energy, said, "2013 was a transformational year for Genel. The energy agreement between the KRG and Turkey and the completion of the KRI independent pipeline infrastructure has paved the way for steadily rising oil export volumes from Taq Taq and Tawke over the course of 2014."
On 8 January 2014, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq announced that first export sales via the pipeline were expected to commence in the near future, with sales volumes expected to ramp up over the remainder of the year. Genel expects that the pipeline system will be fully commissioned during Q2 2014 once required upgrades to pumping stations on the Region's section of the pipeline are completed.
