Page 7 - MEOG Week 16 2021

MEOG POLICY MEOG

IS attacks oilfield in northern Iraq

IRAQ ISLAMIC State (IS) militants detonated two Output from the fields has at various points
bombs near the Bai Hassan oilfield in northern been diverted towards the Baiji refinery near
Iraq at the weekend, though there was no impact Tikrit and exported through the Kirkuk-Cey-
on field operations. han pipeline (also known as the Iraq-Turkey
In a statement on April 17, state-owned pipeline) or through the Kurdistan Regional
operator North Oil Co. (NOC) said that the Government- (KRG) owned conduit, which
explosions “did not cause a fire or damage, affect connects to the Ceyhan line at the Fishkhabour
production or stop oil pumping” from the field’s border crossing.
wells in the al-Dibis area north-west of Kirkuk. Kurdistan’s Peshmerga forces took control
Turkey’s Anadolu Agency quoted a provincial of the fields in 2014 ostensibly to prevent them
police source as saying that work was “ongoing to falling into the hands of IS and exported the out-
extinguish the fire that broke out after the bomb- put independently of Iraq’s oil marketer SOMO,
ing”, while Xinhua quoted another police source much to the ire of Baghdad which resumed
as saying that there had been “minor casualties”. control of the assets in 2017 following the Erbil’s
IS claimed responsibility for the attack on efforts to seek independence and Iraq’s declara-
April 19 in a statement published by its Nasher tion of victory over IS. At that point, flows from
news agency on Telegram. the field through the conduit to Ceyhan ceased
Bai Hassan, together with the Avana Dome of with the KRG saying its output and exports had
the Kirkuk field and Baba Gurgur, are estimated fallen by 250,000 bpd as a result.
to produce around 370,000 barrels per day (bpd), NOC then began deploying crude for domes-
contributing a significant amount of NOC’s total tic refining with small volumes temporarily
output. trucked to Iran.™

Aramco refineries come under attack again

SAUDI ARABIA YEMEN’S Houthi militia last week claimed The attack follows a late March strike on the
another strike on Saudi Arabian oil and military Riyadh refinery, which caused a fire, which was
infrastructure in one of its biggest attacks to date. quickly extinguished.
Launching 17 drones and ballistic missiles, While Sarea said that the projectiles “hit the
the group claimed explosions at Aramco facili- targets successfully”, neither Aramco nor the
ties at Jeddah and Jubail as well as military sites Saudi government have commented on the
in Khamis Mushait and Jazan. attacks, but state-run Ekhbariya TV said the
The Houthis struck at dawn in a retaliatory several armed drones and at least one ballistic
move for the Saudi-led military campaign in missile had been intercepted en route to the
Yemen just one day after Saudi Aramco had Jazan area where a new facility came into oper-
announced a $12.4bn deal for the lease of its oil ation earlier this year. In mid-February, Aram-
pipeline network. co’s President and CEO Amin Nasser said that
Houthi spokesman Brigadier General Yahya the Jazan unit was “on-stream” and running at
Sarea said that the refineries were struck by 10 around 50% of its 400,000-bpd capacity.
Samad-3 drones while five drones and two bal- Also in March, the Saudi Press Agency noted
listic missiles hit the military facilities. that “bomb-laden [unmanned aerial vehicles
Jubail is home to wholly owned 305,000-bar- (UAVs)] launched by terrorist, Iran-backed
rel per day (bpd) Saudi Aramco Jubail Refinery Houthi militia” had been destroyed before they
(SASREF) facility as well as the 440,000-bpd reached Khamis Mushait.
Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical It also published videos on its social media
(SATORP) joint venture with France’s Total. Jed- pages showing the destruction of projectiles it
dah hosts a products distribution plant with Ara- said were targeting “civilians and civilian objects
mco’s refinery there decommissioned in 2017. in the Kingdom”.™

Week 16 21•April•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7