Pipe sabotage halves Iraqi oil output
Iraq’s oil exports were cut nearly in half as workers struggled today to repair a key pipeline shut down after looters sabotaged the line.
“Exports out of Basra are at about 40,000 barrels per hour” – or about 960,000 barrels per day – a London-based trader with a European oil company said.
The 42-inch-diameter line, the smaller of the two key export arteries from the south, was knocked out of service on Saturday after it was breached by looters looking to steal crude oil for sale on the black market, said a government official.
The shutdown effectively halved Iraq’s 1.8 million barrels per day in exports from the south, which accounts for about 90% of Iraq’s total oil exports. Oil exports are the country’s main source of financing for postwar reconstruction efforts.
Officials said it could take up to four days to repair the line – costing the government tens of millions of dollars. The earliest the line is likely to be back up is Wednesday.
