Oil expert: External pipelines are a political gamble and Iraq is incapable of protecting them
Oil expert Hamza Al-Jawahiri warned on Monday against the government’s move to establish oil export projects via pipelines passing outside Iraqi territory, describing these steps as facing “serious political and economic challenges” in light of the country’s current situation.
Al-Jawahiri told Al-Maalouma that “Iraq, which is still unable to protect its oil pipelines within its borders, will in no way be able to secure export lines that pass through foreign territories.”
Al-Jawahiri cited three harsh historical experiences in which Iraq “lost billions of dollars,” as well as “losing its sovereignty over the external oil export lines,” explaining that “the first of these experiences was with the Syrian Banias line, which was established in 1972, as Damascus, following Baghdad’s decision to nationalize oil, confiscated the entire line, even though part of it was owned by the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC),” noting that “this confiscation took place even though Iraq was then stronger and more stable than it is today.”
He added that “the second experience was represented by the Iraqi-Saudi line extending across the Red Sea, where Saudi Arabia confiscated the line only about one month after its completion, and successive Iraqi governments have not been able to recover it to this day.”
Regarding the Ceyhan port pipeline that passes through Turkish territory, Al-Jawahiri confirmed that “Turkey withdrew the federal government’s right to manage the pipeline, which has been in operation since 1973, and granted it to the Kurdistan Region, in a move he considered a direct reflection of the weakness of the Iraqi state.”
The oil expert revealed the behind-the-scenes details of the crisis with Turkey, explaining that “the region’s oil revenues were deposited for years in Turkish banks, which gave Ankara significant financial benefits,” noting that “previous governments were postponing the implementation of the decision of the International Court of Arbitration in Paris, which restored the right to Iraq, considering this a surprising matter that cannot be explained.”
He pointed out that “Ankara is currently imposing harsh conditions and high fees to renew the contract for operating the Ceyhan pipeline, stressing that building a new pipeline would be extremely costly and not economically viable.”
Al-Jawahiri explained that “any outlet for exporting oil via pipelines outside Iraq would be impractical and economically unviable under the current circumstances,” emphasizing that “Iraq’s sovereignty will not be sufficiently respected internationally as long as the state suffers from weakness.”
Almaalomah.me