Iraqi Oil Stocks in Ceyhan Surpassed 4 mln Barrels

Stocks of Iraqi crude oil in the Turkish port of Ceyhan have reached 4.47 million barrels, a trade source said.

Sources have said that when volume at the export terminal of Ceyhan reached around four million barrels, Iraq would issue a tender to sell oil to the international market.

Tenders to sell crude from the giant Kirkuk field in the north of Iraq have been rare since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 as a result of relentless sabotage along the Iraq-Turkey pipeline. The last tender was in August 2005.

Before the war, Iraq was exporting at least 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Kirkuk crude through the Turkish terminal.