Iraq is adding security around southern oil infrastructure as a separate government inquiry examines alleged petroleum-product smuggling in Babil province, while pipeline-protection measures expand, Anadolu Agency reported.
Anadolu reported that Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered a high-level committee Wednesday to investigate alleged smuggling in Jurf al-Nasr. The agency said local outlets, including Shafaq News, had cited a 19-page technical intelligence report alleging the activity had taken place there since 2021. Iraq’s state news agency, INA, reported that the committee arrived in the area Friday to start its work.
Anadolu also reported that Babil Gov. Ali Turki al-Jamali rejected the allegations Tuesday. He described Jurf al-Nasr as a site with a former refueling station that, he said, had supplied fuel for vehicles used by the Popular Mobilization Forces and federal police. Al-Jamali submitted his resignation Thursday without giving a reason, the agency reported.
The separate security effort also focuses on pipeline protection and oil fields. Energy Police Director General Lt. Gen. Hamid al-Husseini told INA on Friday that Iraq had formed a special force to patrol southern desert routes and protect pipelines, Anadolu reported. He said the security concern extended beyond crude lines to the wider pipeline network.
In Basra province, al-Husseini said, sensor readings and inspections of old valves helped security forces identify recent attempts to tap pipelines. At the Subba oil field in Dhi Qar province, security forces thwarted three attempts to install illegal valves to take oil, he said.
Al-Husseini said pipeline violations dropped by as much as 90% after Energy Police measures. He said commando forces had been redeployed under their unit commanders to provide mobile support for five major oil fields. The sites named were North and South Rumaila, Subba, Gharraf and Al-Ahdab. He also cited restricted zones and closer pipeline monitoring as other steps.
