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Iraq issues tender to sell 5 mln bbls Kirkuk crude

LONDON - Iraq on Thursday issued a tender to sell 5 million barrels of Kirkuk crude from its northern fields, the biggest such sale this year, an Iraqi oil official said.

More than 3 million barrels of oil have been shipped along the country’s northern pipeline to the Turkish terminal of Ceyhan since the flow resumed last week.

The export route has been mostly idle due to sabotage attacks since the US-led invasion in March 2003.

“We hope to accumulate the full 5 million by the time the tender closes next Friday,” the official told Reuters.

“It won’t be a problem.”

Oil continued to flow through the pipeline on Thursday, a shipping source said. Tanks at Ceyhan held between 3 million and 4 million barrels of Iraqi crude, he added. The flow rate was around 260,000 to 290,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) has issued two Kirkuk tenders, for 3 million barrels each, in June and January of this year.

The latest tender, which closes at 1700 GMT on Sept. 7, calls for the crude to be loaded in cargo lots of 1 million-2 million barrels between Sept. 10-24.

SOMO’s last Kirkuk tender helped boost July exports to 1.78 million barrels per day -- the highest rate in nearly three years.

When the Iraq-Turkey pipeline is down, Iraq relies solely on its main terminal in the south at Basra for exports.