Northern exports re-start, first in a month

KIRKUK - Iraq began exporting crude through its northern pipeline to Turkey, nearly a month after it went offline due to leaks sparked by sabotage and exacerbated by the security situation in northern Iraq.

"Crude pumping from the Kirkuk oil field to Turkey resumed at dawn today (Tuesday)," said an official from Iraq's state-run North Oil Company (NOC). "The flow rate will increase over the next 24 hours."