| Kirkuk–Ceyhan Oil Pipeline | |
|---|---|
 Location of Kirkuk–Ceyhan Oil Pipeline | |
| Location | |
| Country | Iraq,Turkey |
| General direction | east-west |
| From | Kirkuk,Iraq |
| To | Ceyhan,Turkey |
| General information | |
| Type | oil |
| Commissioned | 1970 |
| Technical information | |
| Length | 600 mi (970 km) |
| Maximum discharge | 1.6 million barrels per day (250×10 |
TheKirkuk–Ceyhan Oil Pipeline, also known as theIraq–Turkey Crude Oil Pipeline, is a 600-mile-long (970 km) pipeline that runs fromKirkuk inIraq toCeyhan inTurkey. It is Iraq's largest crudeoilexport line.
Thepipeline consists of two pipes with diameters of 46 inches (1,170 mm) and 40 inches (1,020 mm) and designed capacity of 1,100 thousand and 500 thousand barrels per day (~5.5×10^7 and ~2.5×10^7 t/a) respectively. Usable capacity of the line is believed to be only 300 thousand barrels per day (~1.5×10^7 t/a), with significant repairs still required.[1]
The line's Iraqi part has been a principalsabotage target since 2003.[2] On 26 October 2009, a blast nearMosul halted oil supplies through the pipeline.[3] On 16 August 2013, at around 0100 GMT near the al-Shura area 60 km to the south of the city of Mosul a bomb attack damaged the pipeline.[4] On 3 September 2013, at around 0200 GMT near Ein al-Jahash area, a bomb attack damaged the pipeline.[5]
In 2013, theKurdistan Regional Government of Iraq completed a pipeline from the Taq Taq oil field throughKhurmala (the northwest sector dome of the greater Kirkuk field) andDuhok to Pesh Khabur (Fesh Khabur) on the Turkey-Iraq border, where it is connected to the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. This 36-inch (910 mm) diameter pipeline has capacity of 150,000 barrels per day (24,000 m3/d). It allows the export of oil from the Taq Taq and Tawke oil fields.[6] On 23 May 2014, the Kurdistan Regional Government announced that the first oil transported via the new pipeline was loaded into a tanker at Ceyhan.[7]
In March 2023, the International Chamber of Commerce ruled that the pumping agreement between the Kurdistan Region and the Turkish government was illegal, causing the pumping of petroleum products to and from the Kurdistan Region to cease.[8]
In August 2024, theNorth Oil Company carried out repairs to the pipeline to allow it to resume operations.[9]
On 27 September 2025, the pipeline resumed operations after an interim agreement was reached between Iraq's federal oil ministry, the natural resources ministry of the Kurdistan Region, and international oil companies operating in the region.[10]
In 2014, Iraq was considering building a new Kirkuk–Ceyhan pipeline to bypass attack-prone areas and double the export capacity.[11]
