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Iraq says Syrian civil war is hindering oil production

March 10, 2014 at 4:22 pm

The Syrian civil war has hindered the production of oil and gas fields in Iraq, according to Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister for Energy issues, Hussain Al-Shahristani.


During a conference in London, Al-Shahristani explained that: “The Syrian conflict has attracted hundreds of terrorists to the region who use the vast desert between Syria and Iraq to establish their bases, from which they attack Iraqi civilians as well as economic and infrastructure targets, including the major oil export pipelines, power plants and power transmission lines.”

He added that, “the Iraqi-Turkish oil pipeline, which carries an average of 250,000 barrels of oil per day, was attacked 54 times in 2013.”

Baghdad claims that the Al-Qaeda linked Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in eastern Syria has seized control over the Iraqi city of Fallujah in collaboration with armed local tribesmen.

Al-Shahristani noted that although the major oil fields in the south of the country are safe, security concerns have prevented the development of the oil reserves in western Iraq, including the Qayyarah and Annajmah oil fields in Ninewah province, which are operated by the Angolan oil company Sonangol.

Despite the escalation of violence in some provinces, Iraq has recorded an increase in oil production nationally as many international companies have recently completed major projects there.

Shahristani predicted a 50 per cent increase in Iraq’s oil production capacity by 2015, to reach 4.7 million barrels per day compared with the three million barrels the country currently produces. The longer term aim is to increase the production level to nine million barrels per day by 2020, an amount the country’s oil reserves should be able to maintain for twenty years.