Oil pumping from Iraq's Kirkuk fields stops as Kurdish forces search for explosives

Oil pumping from Iraq’s northern Kirkuk fields stopped on Thursday after Kurdish forces were deployed in the area to search for explosives said to have been planted by Islamic State, sources from the Kurdish security forces and oil executives said.

“They ordered the shutdown of the pumping station for security reasons and that caused a halt of Kirkuk oil exports to Turkey,” through a pipeline that crosses Kurdish territory, a senior executive from the state-run North Oil Company said.

The executive was referring to Kurdish security forces who have controlled the area since 2014, when the Iraqi army withdrew

source http://www.omnipopmag.com/2017/03/02/oil-pumping-from-iraq039s-kirkuk-fields-stops-as-kurdish-forces-search-for-explosives/