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Security

Basra tanker attack marks deepening crisis for Iraq oil sector

Iraq is facing a widening array of security threats and economic consequences from the Iran war.
Iraqi ports director Farhan al-Fartousi (right) conducts an inspection on March 12, 2026, of the site of an Iranian attack on oil tankers the previous night. (Photo credit: General Company for Ports of Iraq)
Feb 4, 2008

Dispute arises over accusation Iran is stealing Iraq oil from field, involved in smuggling …

Plus: *Oil Majors get special crude instead of cash deal for upcoming oil deals *Iraq-Jordan oil import deal solidifies *Smugglers near Baiji set pipeline ablaze *Oil union leader keys British anti-war tour *Iraq sends delegation to Qatar for gas cooperation *Italy’s Edison, Shell want into Iraq gas too *Turkish op-ed denies cutting N. Iraq’s electricity […]

Jan 31, 2008

What is the US’s Energy Fusion Cell, and where have they been all this war?…

There's optimism in Iraq, at least from a mysterious cadre called the Energy Fusion Cell, which for the past eight months worked to bring coherence to both U.S. and Iraqi initiatives in the oil, gas and power sectors -- the backbone of its citizens' quality of life and the bulk of the national budget. It's […]

Dec 28, 2007

Iraq oil up end-’07, sketchy ‘08 … Update on South Korea backlash

Iraq's oil sector ends 2007 on a relatively upbeat note, with production at levels not seen since before the war. But the year had more downs than ups, and sustaining success through next year is far from guaranteed. Iraq averaged production of 2.4 million barrels per day in November, according to the global energy information […]

Dec 17, 2007

New security for Iraq’s most important city … Kirkuk vote delayed … New oil tankers, Syria pipeline … 5M Iraq orphans …

Basra’s Changing Hands Iraq’s oil capital, Basra, is now officially under control of Iraqi forces. The British have "controlled" the area since 2003. Control is relative, however, since under British occupation Iraq’s main rivalries have been allowed to foster competing militia violence and, along with other armed groups and gangs, turn the oil and fuels […]

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 […]

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 […]