BOTAS READY TO RESUME PIPELINE OPERATIONS; WAITING

UNCLAS ANKARA 004224 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR E, EB, NEA/NGA, EUR/SE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EPET ENRG PREL TU IZ SUBJECT: BOTAS READY TO RESUME PIPELINE OPERATIONS; WAITING FOR SOMO REF: ANKARA 3628 ¶1. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. ¶2. (SBU) BOTAS General Manager Mehmet Bilgic told econoff July 3 that the storage tanks at Ceyhan, which store Iraqi crude from the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik line, were nearly empty. The only remaining oil in the storage tanks was bound for Turkey's Kirakkale refinery. Bilgic said BOTAS was ready to resume operations of the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline, but was waiting to hear from SOMO on next steps. ¶3. (SBU) Bilgic said he had had very useful meetings with SOMO/CPA officials when they traveled to Ceyhan June 22-23 to witness the first off-loading of crude onto tankers since the end of the war. During those meetings, he had offered to send a BOTAS technical team to Iraq to help repair the pipeline and to help get the pipeline operating again as soon as possible. Bilgic said he was still waiting to hear back from SOMO, and asked econoff to pass this message to Phillip Carroll's office in OCPA. PEARSON