June 21 (SeeNews) - Iraqi Kurdistan region's energy minister said an oil pipeline to the Turkish border is slated for completion by the end of September.
The pipeline is expected to have an initial capacity of 300,000 barrels per day and more than one million barrels per day after the planned installation of pumping stations along the pipeline route, energy minister Ashti Hawrami told an oil conference in London earlier this week, according to a statement published on the Kurdistan Regional Government's website.
The pipeline runs from Kurdistan's Taq Taq oil field to Khurmala field, from Khurmala to Duhok, and from Duhok to the Turkish border. The section from Taq Taq to Khurmala has been completed and is being tested.
At present, Kurdistan is exporting some 30,000 barrels of oil per day by trucks via Turkey, Hawrami said. The region's current production capacity is 300,000 barrels per day from four oil fields. Six more oil fields are expected to enter the production stage and to boost the output capacity to 400,000 barrels per day by the end of the year.