Iraq’s oil minister says pipeline sabotage is down significantly since last year and oil exports are up.

Hussain al-Shahristani attributes the improvement to the rise of Sunni awakening councils. That’s the term for Sunni groups that have turned against al-Qaida and now provide security in their home areas.

Speaking on Iraq television, al-Shahristani says attacks dropped from about 30 a month last year to only four last month.

He says Iraq can now ship more oil through its northern pipeline from Kirkuk to a Turkish port on the Mediterranean Sea.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 11:38 am and is filed under Oil and Gas. Tags: al-Qaeda, Export, Exports, Hussain al-Shahristani, Iraq, Mediterranean, Mediterranean Sea, Oil, oil exports, Pipeline, ship more oil. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.