Security

Iraqi oil shutdowns loom as U.S. attacks Iran

Some production is already offline and Iraqi oil officials are bracing for a total loss of southern exports.

A worker from Iraq's state-run Oil Pipelines Company repairs part of a pipeline in Babel province carrying oil products from the Shuaiba refinery in Basra, in February 2026. (Photo credit: Oil Pipelines Company)

Dec 7, 2007

Attacks on oil and power sector continue, workers targeted … Kirkuk-Baiji line bombed … Women in Basra risk death by religious fundamentalists …

There have been nearly 600 pipeline attacks in Iraq since March 2003, though recent security strategies have allowed additional flow in the northern pipeline. Attacks are also increasing in the power sector, especially among workers being targeted, according to an assessment from March 2003 to Nov. 17, 2007, made for United Press International by an […]

Nov 28, 2007

Kirkuk Oil Battle Heats Up … Oil Funds for Refugees … Lukoil on Talking Terms With Baghdad Again

Iraq's Oil Ministry is accusing the Kurdistan region of preventing development of one of Iraq's oldest, largest and most controversial oil fields, another dispute in the battle over control of the country's vast reserves.While the rift has been public, the issue of the Kirkuk oil field project is starting to surface in conflicting accounts. …"We […]

Nov 8, 2007

Violence in Iraq oil capitals continues … Iraq-Iran oil pipeline being built? … plus…

Violence is steady, and deadly, in Kirkuk and Basra, where combined more than 90 percent of Iraq’s reserves are located. The violence is less related to fighting terrorists than it is to finding a solution to the power struggle in Iraq. A pipeline from Iraq to Iran is being built, according to press reports. The […]

Oct 25, 2007

Iraq’s oil flowing to Turkey still, but bad signs linger in the north and south of Iraq

Oil continues to flow from Kirkuk to Turkey, despite Kurdish separatist threats to blow it up as a tactic against Turkey, Simon Webb reports for Reuters. Iraq was pumping around 400,000 barrels per day of Kirkuk crude to Turkey on Thursday for the seventh consecutive day, the shipper said. "The flow is about 18,000 barrels […]

Oct 24, 2007

Turkish trouble and Shiite violence, all in oil-rich Iraq

Turkey may implement economic sanctions against the Kurdistan Regional Government, including cutting needed power supplies, Iran’s PressTV reports. It sounds like a squeeze on the KRG for not quashing the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party. The PKK is threatening to sabotage the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline – in the Kurdistan territory – but has yet to make good […]

Oct 17, 2007

Iraq’s oil law lags but the looming war is less of a threat to the crude

While the Turkish threat looms in northern Iraq, Simon Webb reports for Reuters oil will not be in harm’s way. Iraq’s controversial oil law has enough support in Parliament, but won’t be put forward until there is greater backing, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told Reuters. But the Iraq war as a whole has helped […]

Oct 16, 2007

Iraq’s oil in the north could face Turkey’s wrath

While Turkey's government decides whether to enter Iraq in response to ongoing attacks blamed on Kurdish separatists hiding in the northern Iraq mountains, Iraq's oil sector pumps, and waits. Oil skyrocketed to $88 at one point Tuesday, before declining a few dollars, as concerns over global oil supplies and a new Iraq war strike nerves. […]

Sep 14, 2007

The Real Energy Security Factor

This week was filled with the Petraeus/Crocker/Congress/Bush/benchmark circus. It’s Friday and the Iraq Oil Report will now refrain (OK, I’ll have some good links at the end of today’s report). The three rings barely touched on oil anyway, with the administration touting the dissemination of oil revenue as a sign of success and Congress pointing […]