Iraq’s North Oil Company has announced that the K1 station in Kirkuk has received its initial shipment of crude oil from Basra.
The first batch of Basra crude arrived at the K1 pumping and storage facility, where it will be blended with oil produced from local Kirkuk fields. The blended crude will then be pumped through the Kurdistan Region pipeline for export to Turkey’s Ceyhan port on the Mediterranean.
Boosting Export Capacity
The move is part of efforts to increase Iraq’s overall export volumes via the northern route. The K1 station has recently been upgraded with new booster pumps to handle higher volumes. Around 90,000 barrels per day of Basra crude are expected to be transported daily to Kirkuk by tanker trucks (approximately 400–450 trucks per day) and blended with roughly 250,000–380,000 bpd from northern fields.
This initiative helps diversify export routes and reduces reliance on southern terminals in Basra, which have faced disruptions due to regional tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.
The development comes as Iraq works to restore and expand its oil export capacity amid the ongoing Middle East conflict. Officials expect the combined flows to significantly boost shipments through the Ceyhan pipeline in the coming weeks.