Turkey has started repair works on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, which stopped delivering crude oil following bomb attacks by militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The attack was launched near the southeastern town of Idil in Sirnak province.
No fire was observed but the attack damaged 40in and 46in diameter pipes that constitute the pipeline.
The 970km-long pipeline transports 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from Iraq’s Kurdistan region and the Kirkuk oil fields to the port of Ceyhan.
According to the Turkish energy ministry, Kirkuk-Ceyhan has been repeatedly sabotaged in recent months.
Turkish shipping and industry sources said that Iraqi Kurdish exports to global markets through the pipeline may be halted for another two weeks due to increasing security threats in Turkey.
Reuters quoted the Ministry of Energy as saying: "The Ministry of Energy has launched work to repair the damage to the oil pipeline and the security forces have taken necessary steps to ensure the pipeline’s safety.
"We expect to restart the oil delivery soon."
The pipeline has been designed to have a capacity of 1,100,000 bpd and 500,000bpd, respectively.
The line is believed to have a usable capacity of 300,000bpd.
