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Syria-Iraq pipeline will reopen within 2 years
 DAMASCUS, Syria - A pipeline linking Iraqs northern oil fields with Syrias Mediterranean coastline will be operational within two years but needs repairs in Iraq, Syrias oil minister said Sunday after meeting with a visiting Iraqi delegation.Syrian Oil Minister Sufian Allaw said a Russian company would travel to Iraq on Jan. 10 to inspect the pipeline for needed repairs. "Its ready to pump oil from the Syrian side, but the pipeline still needs some repair from the Iraqi side," Allaw said during a visit by a delegation led by Iraqs Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh. In Baghdad, a spokesman for Iraqs Oil Ministry said it had been impossible to repair the line before because security was too tenuous. "But now with the improved security situation and the increase in oil production, we are planning to increase our export outlets," said the spokesman, Assem Jihad. He said Iraq produces about 2.5 million barrels per day, a recent increase from the 2 million post-invasion average, but far below what its reserves could handle. Salehs visit to Syria was the second by a top Iraqi official in a week, signaling improved relations between the countries. On Wednesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari announced that the pipeline linking the oil-rich city of Kirkuk with the Syrian port of Banias would reopen. Zebari said Wednesday that the pipelines reopening was meant to help the government in Damascus. Syria, which allied itself with Iran in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, shut down the pipeline in 1982. It reopened in late 2000, as relations with Baghdad thawed, but was closed again with the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. This pipeline would pump around 250,000 barrels a day through the Syrian ports, Allaw said Sunday. Posted by: Steve White 2007-12-17 |
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