Kirkuk–Haifa oil pipeline
Mosul-Haifa oil pipeline led crude oil from the oil fields in Kirkuk, located in north Iraq, through Jordan to Haifa, and was active in the years 1935-1948. The oil line's length was about 942 km, and it took about 10 days to move oil from start to finish. The oil which arrived in Haifa was distilled in the Haifa refineries, stored in tanks, which were put in tankers which were transfered to Europe.
The pipeline was built in 1935, during a period in which most of the Middle East as well as the area in which the oil pipeline went through, was under British control. The pipeline was built during the same time another oil pipeline was built which went from the oil fields in Kirkuk to Tripoli in Lebanon.
The pipeline and the Haifa refineries were built by the British as part of the preparations for an expected war, and indeed provided the fuel needs of the British army and the American army in the Mediterranean during the Second World War.
The pipeline was a favorite target of attacks by Arab gangs during the Great Arab Revolt, and as a result one of the main objectives of the joint British-Jewish Special Night Squads commanded by captain Orde Wingate was to protect the pipeline against attacks. Later on, the pipeline was the target of attacks by the Irgun.
In 1948, with the outbreak of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the operation of the pipeline ended.
See also
External links
- U.S. checking possibility of pumping oil from northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan - published in Haaretz on 25 August 2003