Iraqi National Security Service (INSS) announced on 2 November that it had dismantled “one of the largest oil smuggling operations in Basra,” the oil capital of Opec’s second largest producer. The INSS said the smugglers had “breached one of the crude oil export pipelines” at the Eni operated 500,000 b/d capacity Zubair oil field where they diverted some of the crude flows via a “buried pipeline.”
The security agency adds that there were several pipeline breaches with each resulting in “daily smuggled quantities estimated at 5-7 tanker trucks with a capacity of 50,000 liters” for a monthly total of 57mn liters (around 12,000 b/d). (CONTINUED - 175 WORDS)