Iraq begins oil exports from Khor Al-Amaya terminal on Persian Gulf

The Associated Press

An oil tanker has started loading crude at Iraq’s second Gulf oil export terminal, Khor al-Amaya, an official of the State Oil Marketing Organization said Feb. 27.

The official, who spoke to Dow Jones Newswires, declined to give further details about the size of the oil tanker or plans for future scheduled loadings.

Earlier in the week, State Oil Marketing officials said the Khor Al-Amaya terminal would start loading at a rate of 300,00-400,000 barrels a day and gradually increase to 800,000 barrels a day.

Until the terminal was opened, Iraqi oil could only be exported through the Basra terminal a short distance from Khor al-Amaya.

Iraq’s second major export route — a pipeline from the northern oil fields at Kirkuk to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan — has yet to resume pumping on a regular basis because of sabotage and poor maintenance.

However, the line was briefly tested between Feb. 21 and Feb. 25.