Sabotage to oil sector cost Iraq US$ 11 billion
Baghdad (AsiaNews/Agencies) Iraq has lost around US$ 11.35 billion in damages to its oil sector infrastructure and lost export revenue in the last two years, Assem Jihad, an Iraqi oil ministry spokesman, said.
Jihad said that from June 2003when Iraq resumed oil exportsuntil May 31 of this year there were 300 acts of sabotage against Iraqi oil installations, 70 in the first five months of 2005.
He said most of the sabotage targeted northern oil installations and prevented the country from exporting around 400,000 barrels per day from its northern oil fields via the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
Before the 2003 war, Baghdad used to export 800,000 barrels per day from the North.
Iraq has resumed sporadic pumping of crude from the Kirkuk oil fields to Ceyhan over the last six weeks.
It has exported around 2 million barrels in June and it sold 2.63 million barrels for loading July 1-10.
It has also promised to sell 2 million barrels in July to Turkish refiner Tupras.
Iraqi oil exports from the southern part of the country have been running around 1.4 million barrels per day.
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