The Kirkuk–Haifa oil pipeline (also known as the Iraq–Haifa pipeline or Mediterranean pipeline) was a crude oil pipeline from the oil fields in Kirkuk, located in the former Ottoman

vilayet A vilayet ( ota, , "province"), also known by various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated ...

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...

in northern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, through Transjordan to

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

(now in the territory of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

).Iraq Petroleum Company, ''AN ACCOUNT OF THE CONSTRUCTION IN THE YEARS 1932 TO 1934 OF THE PIPELINE OF THE IRAQ PETROLEUM COMPANY LIMITED FROM ITS OILFIELD IN THE VICINITY OF KIRKUK TO THE MEDITERRANEAN PORTS OF HAIFA (Palestine) and TRIPOLI (Lebanon)'', pg. iii The pipeline was operational between 1935 and 1948. Its length was about , with a diameter of (reducing to in parts), and it took about 10 days for crude oil to travel the full length of the line. The oil arriving in Haifa was distilled in the Haifa refineries, stored in tanks, and then put in tankers for shipment to Europe. The pipeline was built by the

Iraq Petroleum Company The Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), formerly known as the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC), is an oil company that had a virtual monopoly on all oil exploration and production in Iraq between 1925 and 1961. It is jointly owned by some of the worl ...

between 1932 and 1934, during which period most of the area through which the pipeline passed was under a British mandate approved by the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. The pipeline was one of two carrying oil from the

Baba Gurgur Baba Gurgur (Arabic: بابا كركر, ku, بابە گوڕگوڕ ,Babagurgur) is an oil field and gas flame near the city of Kirkuk, which was the first to be discovered in Northern Iraq in 1927. It was considered the largest oil field in ...

, Kirkuk oilfield to the Mediterranean coast. The double pipeline split at

Haditha , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Inbound3292807512093856589نواعير حديثة.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption ...

(Pumping Station K3) with a second line carrying oil to

Tripoli, Lebanon Tripoli ( ar, طرابلس/ ALA-LC: ''Ṭarābulus'', Lebanese Arabic: ''Ṭrablus'') is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in the country. Situated north of the capital Beirut, it is the capital of the North Gove ...

, which was then under a French mandate. That line was built primarily to satisfy the demands of the French partner in IPC, ''Compagnie Française des Pétroles'', for a separate line to be built across French mandated territory. The pipeline and the Haifa refineries were considered strategically important by the British Government, and indeed provided much of the fuel needs of the British and American forces in the Mediterranean during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The pipeline was a target of attacks by Arab gangs during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, and as a result one of the main objectives of a joint British-Jewish Special Night Squads commanded by Captain Orde Wingate was to protect the pipeline against such attacks. Later on, the pipeline was the target of attacks by the Jewish

Irgun Irgun • Etzel , image = Irgun.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = Irgun emblem. The map shows both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" i ...

paramilitary organisation. In 1948, with the outbreak of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the official operation of the pipeline ended when the Iraqi Government refused to pump any more oil through it.

Oil pumping stations

These were named in numerical order going westwards, with the stations from Kirkuk to Haditha denoted "K" (after Kirkuk) and the subsequent ones to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

coast at

denoted "H" (after Haifa) and those to Tripoli denoted "T".Iraq Petroleum Company, ''AN ACCOUNT OF THE CONSTRUCTION IN THE YEARS 1932 TO 1934 OF THE PIPELINE OF THE IRAQ PETROLEUM COMPANY LIMITED FROM ITS OILFIELD IN THE VICINITY OF KIRKUK TO THE MEDITERRANEAN PORTS OF HAIFA (Palestine) and TRIPOLI (Lebanon)'', map6 * K1 * K2 * K3 * H1 * H2 * H3 * H4 * H5

References

External links

U.S. checking possibility of pumping oil from northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan
'' Haaretz'', 25 August 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mosul-Haifa oil pipeline Mandatory Palestine History of the Middle East Oil pipelines in Iraq Oil pipelines in Jordan Oil pipelines in Israel Iraq–Jordan relations Iraq–Israel relations

Oil pumping stations

See also

References

External links