UPDATE: Pipeline outages threaten Kurdistan oil autonomy

The KRG's economic lifeline is down again - and has been for one-third of August - as the government risks sliding into a spiral of debt.

Twin oil pipelines run north to a processing facility at the Avana Dome oil formation in the Sargaran sub-district, Aug. 25, 2015. (PATRICK OSGOOD/Iraq Oil Report)

Patrick Osgood, Kamaran al-Najar, Ben Van Heuvelen and Rawaz Tahir of Iraq Oil Report

Wednesday, August 26th, 2015

ERBIL/KIRKUK - Iraqi oil exports to Turkey's Ceyhan port went offline again Monday and Tuesday – the latest in an intensifying pattern of outages that have blocked Kurdistan's oil sector from reaching the international market for one-third of August.

The combined effect of a slump in oil prices and incessant outages along the pipeline could jeopardize the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) policy of becoming self-reliant through independent oil exports. The August shutoffs alone have prevented roughly $246 million of oil from being sold, according to an Iraq Oil Report estimate – more than one-third the amount of the KRG's monthly civil service payroll.

UPDATE: Pipeline outages threaten Kurdistan oil autonomy

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