ERBIL, Kurdistan Region— The sabotage attack in July on the Kurdistan region’s main pipeline briefly halted vital oil exports to Turkey as well as denting the total production of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the organization reported in its monthly report.
The overall production of crude oil in August by OPEC nations declined from 31,880,000 to 31,710,000 barrels per day (bpd) after the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) temporarily stopped its transfer due to the demolished pipeline along the Turkish border.
An armed offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the People’s Defense Force (HPG), claimed responsibility for the operation on July 27 in the Sirnak-Cizre area near the Iraqi-Turkish border.
The group initially described it as “sabotage against Turkey’s interests,” but a PKK statement later denied the HPG attackers had acted under direct orders and said the units “did not know to whom the pipeline belonged.”
In a strongly worded statement, the KRG condemned the action carried out by fellow Kurds and said it had harmed the Kurdistan region’s incomes and long-term interests.
The PKK has frequently targeted Turkey’s economic interests in the region. Last week, the group released a video on their official website showing an earlier attack on the Shah Deniz pipeline that transports natural gas from Azerbaijan to Turkey.
The Kurdistan region of Iraq can export 600,000 barrels per day (bdp) worth $800 million each month, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told a group of Kurdish journalists in August.
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