BAGHDAD, Dec 25 (KUNA) -- Iraq has asked a Russian oil company to present a bid to repair and develop a pipeline to carry oil from northern Iraq Kirkuk oil fields to Syria's Mediterranean Port of Banyas.
During his visit to Syria last week, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Borham Saleh asked Russia's Stroi Trans Gas Company to submit a bid in order to rehabilitate a pipeline carrying oil from Kirkuk fields towards Banyas Syrian port situated on the Mediterranean Sea, a spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Oil told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
He quoted Saleh as saying that the company that was implementing contracts in Syria and Saudi Arabia would present the bid to the Iraqi government in Baghdad before January 10, 2008. The Iraqi deputy premier added that Iraq would study the proposition and that it seriously intended to repair the pipeline.
The Iraqi policy is built on establishing mutual relations with neighboring countries in order to enable Iraq to be an essential pillar in regional stability and economic progress, he noted.
The Iraqi pipeline, which was established in the 1950s, used to carry Iraqi oil to the Syrian Banyas port with a capacity of 200,000 barrels per day, but it was scrapped due to strained Syrian-Iraqi relations in late the 1990s. It was damaged in US air strikes in 2003. (end) mhg.mt KUNA 251725 Dec 07NNNN