Iraq's North Oil says Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline ready for trial pumping

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's North Oil Company has completed technical preparations to resume pumping Kirkuk crude through the pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, the company said. Engineering teams have finished work under the planned schedule, and the IT1A pump station is ready to receive and push 300,000 to 350,000 barrels of crude per day. Under the plan, oil will first be moved to IT1A through a pipeline segment with 40 node points, then sent at full capacity through a second line with 46 node points for trial pumping. The company said the preparations are part of the Oil Ministry's effort to bring the northern export system back online. North Oil currently produces about 325,000 barrels of crude per day from fields in and around Kirkuk, most of which is directed to domestic refineries, according to the statement. Oil and energy analyst Ali Khalil said the station's stated capacity matches the company's current output and that, once fully operational, the line can handle a large share of Kirkuk production. Khalil added that restarting exports via Ceyhan would give Iraq a strategic alternative to its southern ports, reduce transport costs and improve the economic efficiency of the northern fields.