Iraq has plans to reopen the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline to Turkey which will bypass the pipeline used by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), posing threats of increasing economic sanctions in the wake of Kurdistan’s referendum for independence. Jabar al-Luaibi, Iraq’s oil minister, announced on Tuesday preparations to begin the process of restoring and reopening the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. The federally-controlled Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline was destroyed by militants in 2014, prior to ISIS capturing territory that the pipeline ran through. The pipeline passes through Salahaddin and Nineveh provinces. Rehabilitation of the pipeline can begin now that the area has been cleared of “terrorist gangs”, the Oil Ministry stated.
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