IRAQ-JORDAN-ISRAEL: THE IPC PIPELINES TO HAIFA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88B00443R001500040080-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 23, 2008
• Sequence Number: 80
• Publication Date: January 7, 1984
• Content Type: REPORT

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7 January 1984
Dear George,
The pipeline you talked to me about at lunch
on Friday has not been in operation since the
partition of Palestine in 1948. There are two
pipelines which may have had a total export
capacity of about 150,000 barrels per day, and
perhaps less. Our experts think that it would
be most costly and time consuming for somebody
to restore them than build an entirely new pipe-
line. Still, it would be quite a political
signal to even begin restoration efforts, and
the immediate impact of that step could make up
for some loss in cost and time in getting a flow
of oil there. Also, there seems to have been
some talk about using portions of the Iraqi and
Jordanian pipeline rights-of-way through Iraw
and Jordan in a new outlet from Iraq thrugh
Al Aqabah. Details and a map are attached.
Yours ,
'1G
William J. Casey
The Honorable George P. Shultz
Secretary of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
DISTRIBUTION
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LE;Iqmlqrdan-Israe-l:---T.he-IPC-Pipe.lines-to Haifa
There are no operating crude oil or product pipelines
linking Iraq with the Mediterranean through Israel although the
Iraq Petroleum Company (PIC) built two crude export lines--one in
1934 and the other in 1948--linking the Kirkuk oilfield'with
Haifa through Jordan. No crude oil has flowed the length of the
pipelines since the partition of Palestine in 1948 nor could
these lines be restored to operating condition in our judgment.
The Kirkuk-Haifa pipelines were part of the Northern
Iraq/Mediterranean Pipeline System built by IPC between 1934 and
its takeover by the Iraqi government in 1973. The remainder of
the old IPC pipeline system passes through Syria to Baniyas and
the Lebanese port of Tripoli and has also been closed by Damascus
since the early days of the Iran-Iraq war. All of the old IPC
pipelines pass through three still operational pumping stations--
K-1, K-2, and K-3--in Iraq between Kirkuk-and Al Hadi-thah:--The
parallel 12 and 16 inch pipelines that comprise the Haifa
connection continue in a southwesterly direction to the last pump
station near Qaryatain, Jordan, then west to Haifa. At their
peak, these two pipelines may have had a total export capacity of
about 150 thousand barrels per day based on our rudimentary
understan i e pipeline size and the number of pump
stations.
We do not believe any portion of the pipeline from Al
Hadithah to Haifa is currently operable. Moreover, we believe
that efforts to restore these pipelines would probably be more
costly and time consuming than b .LLdi,.n.g,-an-_eot_j_r~l-y-~. line. As
o the last date for which we have any firm information on
the pipelines' status, none of the five pump stations between Al
Hadithah and Haifa--H-1 to H-5--were in use. portions of the
pipelines west of the last pump station were being used by the
danians to transport water. We suspect the Israe-Ti3 have
dismantled t e lines in their territory to make way for
development projects over the years. We also suspect that the
unused Jordanian and Iraqi portion of the pipelines, shut down
for more than 35 years, has been destroyed by the elements or, as
has happened with the similarly unused Trans-Arabian Pipeline
(TAPline), has been dismantled by nomadic scavengers.
In exploring new Iraqi export options, there has been some
talk that portions of the Iraqi and Jordanian pipeline right-of-
ways could be used__.in_a_ne.w_...r -qi outlet throb- _ l_Agabah.
While"this route could be used as an'export outlet, industry
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L.Y. Tuz Kayseri
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sources do not believe this would result in any significant
construction cost or time savings. The route would have to be
completely reconstructed and remnants of the old pipelines might
actually slow this effort. 25X1
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CONFIDENTIAL
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