Iraq wants to reopen old Saudi oil pipeline


Former oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum said it was necessary to restore an old pipeline used to export Iraqi oil through Saudi territory.


"We have already discussed this issue with the Saudi side," Bahr al-Uloum said in a press statement. "It is expected that there will be a positive response from Saudi Arabia in this regard, because the political atmosphere is appropriate and there is a great rapprochement between the two governments, which are major producers of oil in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries [ OPEC].

Oil Minister Jabbar al-Allaibi is on an official visit to Saudi Arabia and is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih on Thursday.
The Iraqi pipeline in Saudi Arabia has not transferred Iraqi oil since the invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Saudi Arabia seized the pipeline in 2001 as compensation for Baghdad's debts.
Saudi Arabia has used the Iraqi pipeline through Saudi territory to transport gas to power plants in the west for years before testing its opening in 2012.

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