‘Important’ Kirkuk oil well repaired after 43 days, ready to resume exports

KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region – Repairs on an oil well at the Bay Hassan oilfield in Kirkuk have finished and the field will soon resume oil exports to Turkey’s Ceyhan port, said an official, who dismissed claims that that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) shut down an oil well there.

 

It was claimed that the PUK had allegedly shut down the number 34 oil well at the major Bay Hassan oilfield in Kirkuk, after it was blown up in a terrorist attack in early August.

“After the Bay Hassan oil wells were attacked by some suicide bombers, the No. 34 oil well was severely damaged and its oil export was stopped,” said Farhad Hamza, an engineer from the North Oil Company who is repairing the oil well, dismissing claims that the PUK has shut it down and decided to halt its exports.

“After 43 days of work, workers and engineers of the North Oil Company managed to repair the well and get it ready to extract and export oil once again," Hamza added.

The suicide bombing was blamed on the Islamic State (ISIS), the attack resulted in parts of the field going up in flames. Export of crude oil at the oil field was soon restored at some oil wells which weren't badly damaged, but two others, including the No. 34 oil well were completely shut down for repairs.

Hamza described the repaired oil well as “important” as “it has the capability to produce 3,000 barrels of oil per day, which are being exported to the Turkish Ceyhan port through the Kurdistan Region.”

"After repairs of any oil well, which has been damaged like No. 34 oil well, it has to be on hold for two months until the water mixed with the oil is separated in order to produce oil of the same quality to that produced before the attack," he explained.

The Bay Hasan oilfield has been administrated by Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) since July 2014 after a deal was reached with the Iraqi government over the export of Kirkuk oil to the Ceyhan port in neighbouring Turkey. 

The KRG is currently exporting just below 600,000 bpd and has said its infrastructure could help produce over a million barrels per day by the end of 2016.