Iraq oil reopens: Kurdistan fields and the Fishkhabur line
Kurdistan's natural resources minister said every field except Sarsang is pumping again at 220,000 to 230,000 barrels a day. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered the oil ministry to finish the Basra-Fishkhabur and Haditha-Banyas pipelines. After the Hormuz crisis, pressure is rising to diversify export routes and restore capacity.
Economics & Markets··Evening
Kurdistan fields pump again except Sarsang
Kurdistan Regional Government natural resources minister Kamal Mohammed said every oilfield in the region has restarted except Sarsang, which several drone strikes damaged. Output is running at 220,000 to 230,000 barrels a day, part of it set aside for local consumption. Iraq shipped about 3.4 million barrels a day before the war, and exports collapsed after the Strait of Hormuz closed on 28 February 2026; by early August the country was back to roughly 2 million barrels a day. Refining is the weak link: Kurdistan can process 50,000 barrels a day against local demand of 140,000.[1]
The prime minister orders two pipelines finished
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has instructed the oil ministry to complete the Basra-Haditha-Fishkhabur and Haditha-Banyas lines to the standards set for them. According to the Iraqi News Agency no completion date was given. The line running from Basra to Fishkhabur on the Turkish border can connect to the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline and ship crude from the port of Ceyhan, while the Haditha-Banyas line reaches the Syrian port of Banyas. The prime minister called the project strategic because it diversifies export routes and adds capacity.[2]
Output bottomed in April to June and began recovering in July
Iraqi output fell from 3.3 million barrels a day to 1.3 million barrels a day across April, May and June, and began recovering in July and August. Al-Zaidi met oil minister Basim Khudair, ministry officials and contractors' representatives to go over the project's technical and economic detail and the volumes the two lines would carry. Cost differences between federal and regional operations also persist.[2], [1]
