KIRKUK-YUMARTALIK PIPELINE: CLARIFICATION ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 002552 SIPDIS STATE FOR E, EB?CBED, EB/ESC, EUR/SE, NEA/NGA, INR NSC FOR QUANRUD AND BRYZA USDOC FOR 4212/ITA/MAC/OEURA/CPD/DDEFALCO USDOE FOR PUMPHREY/ROSSI E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2013 TAGS: ENRG EPET TU IZ UNSC SUBJECT: KIRKUK-YUMARTALIK PIPELINE: CLARIFICATION ON AMOUNTS STORED REF: A. (A) ANKARA 2445 ¶B. (B) ANKARA 1952 (U) Classified by EconCounselor Scot Marciel. Reason: 1.5(b,d). ¶1. (C) Reftel reported that BOTAS executives had informed Embassy that the storage tanks at Ceyhan were full with about 6.5 million barrels of oil from the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik (Ceyhan) pipeline. Based on questions from Washington, Embassy double-checked the figures today. BOTAS Deputy General Manager Fuat Celepci onfirmed that the tanks were full, and said the amount involved was just under 1.5 million cubic meters. He was not sure of the formula to convert cubic meters (which BOTAS uses) into barrels, but estimated it at 6.3 barrels per cubic meter, which would produce a figure of 9.3 million barrels of oil in storage rather than the 6.5 million we were originally told. ¶2. (C) Celebci also confirmed that UN officials were still present in Ceyhan. ¶3. (C) Comment: BOTAS executives have consistently said all 12 of the storage tanks in Ceyhan were full. We believe that the original figure they gave us was based on an improper conversion of cubic meters into barrels, and was not an attempt to mislead. PEARSON