September 08, 2008

Iraqi southern oilfields resume production

Reuters reported that Iraq has partially restarted output from southern oilfields that pump around 100,000 barrels per day. It was shut down after a bomb attack on a pipeline last week.

As per report, production restarted from the Bazargan and Majnoon oilfields at 10 AM local time after Iraqi engineers connected a bypass for a damaged section of the pipeline from Bazargan.

An Iraqi government official said that "We resumed pumping crude this morning from Bazargan and Majnoon oil fields and Bin Umar field is ready to pump as soon as instructions are received." He added that before the shutdown on March 27th 2008, the 3 fields were pumping about 100,000 barrels per day.

The official added that southern oil exports were also affected, although Iraq has used oil in storage at both the fields and the Basra oil terminal to minimize the impact on shipments. The bypassed section of the pipeline would need more time for full repair.