South-to-north export trucking begins

BASRA - Iraq has started trucking Basra crude to its northern export pipeline system in an operation that is likely to increase oil sales via Turkey's Ceyhan port within weeks.

Loading started at the Zubair-1 depot at 9 a.m. on Sept. 13, and 209 tankers trucks had been filled by Sept. 14, according to a statement from Bassim Abdul Karim, director general of the state-run Basra Oil Company (BOC). A separate BOC official also said that more than 200 trucks had loaded by midday Monday.