Iraq starts trucking crude from Basra to Kirkuk to keep its northern oil-export route supplied

Iraq began trucking crude oil from its southern oilfields to keep its northern export routes supplied. State-owned Basra Oil Company (BOC) is launching a pilot program targeting 100k-150k bbl / d in shipments from its Zubair 1 site to a storage facility in Kirkuk, under a contract with local KAR Group covering c. 5 mn barrels, according to a statement. BOC plans to add loading operations at Zubair 2 and Al Tuba to scale up the route.

But volumes remain well below target: The initial two-day pilot moved c. 38k barrels aboard 209 tanker trucks, Reuters reports — a rate of some 19k bbl / d, or barely a fifth of the lower end of BOC’s target. Limited truck availability and constrained loading infrastructure at southern oilfields mean a significant expansion would be needed to materially increase northern exports, BOC sources told the newswire.

The northern export route is already running below pre-war levels. Flows to Turkey’s Ceyhan port stand at around 200k bbl / d, down from some 250k bbl / d before the conflict, per oil ministry figures cited by the newswire. Iraq and Turkey signed a one-year transit agreement in August to keep crude flowing through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, covering up to 750k bbl / d while both sides negotiate a longer-term framework.

REMEMBER- Trucks are already part of Iraq’s export workaround. More than 600k tons of Iraqi fuel oil reached Syria by road in June for export through Baniyas — which handles an average of 900 tanker trucks per day — helping relieve storage pressure at refineries. The longer-term fix, pipeline routes linking Basra to Baniyas and Fishkhabur via Haditha, remains under discussion, BOC said.

Why it matters: Iraq’s main route to market runs south through the Hormuz. Trucking crude to Kirkuk and on to Turkey’s Ceyhan port gives Baghdad an alternative route to keep oil flows moving without depending on the chokepoint. However, replicating the scale and economics of its main maritime outlet requires substantial investment — and the workarounds bring bottlenecks of their own. The payoff is keeping some barrels moving and revenue coming in, even if that means moving less at a greater cost.