The flow of crude oil through the Kurdistan pipeline from Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan have plummeted to some 225,000 bpd, from a typical flow of around 600,000 bpd, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a shipping source. On Tuesday the crude oil flows were some 500,000 bpd, said the source who didn’t provide a specific reason for the sharp drop. Also on Tuesday, Iraqi government forces seized control of all oil fields that Iraqi state-held North Oil Company operates in the oil-rich Kirkuk region from Kurdish forces. Last week, Iraq’s Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luiebi ordered state-held oil and pipeline companies to begin restoring oil flows from Kirkuk to Ceyhan via a pipeline that bypasses Kurdistan, increasing pressure on the breakaway region that voted for independence last month in a referendum strongly opposed and deemed illegal and invalid by the federal government. But until that pipeline bypassing Kurdistan […]