Members of Iraqi security forces are seen at an oil field in Dibis area on the outskirts of Kirkuk, Iraq, Oct. 17, 2017. Reuters
Reuters: Fear of Iranian general left Iraqi Kurdish oil fields deserted
BAGHDAD/LONDON (Reuters) - When the Iraqi army and Iranian-backed Shi‘ite militia entered a key oil processing facility in Iraq’s north to retake it from Kurdish Peshmerga forces last week, the installation was deserted and its alarm bells ringing.
Engineers and workers on the facility, which processes oil from two major fields in the Kirkuk area of predominantly Sunni Kurdistan, had fled, fearing the military advance.
“No one wanted to risk their life and decided to evacuate as stories about the Shi‘ite militia and Qassem Soleimani were spreading fast,” said a senior Kurdish oil industry source, referring to the head of foreign operations for Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards. The source declined to be identified.
Iraqi engineers arrived to the sound of alarm bells warning about system malfunctions, prompting them to immediately shut down wells. Now, they need passwords and expertise from their Kurdish counterparts to restore oil output fully.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Losing $200 million per week in lost revenues will hurt the Kurdistan government .... so to put it bluntly .... the Kurds overreached and it is now going to hurt. But they are not the only going ones who are in financial pain .... according to the above Reuters post, trading companies loaned billions to the Kurdish government based on future oil deliveries .... that is now gone.
No comments:
Post a Comment