Khor al-Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT)

The Khor al-Amaya oil terminal (KAAOT), along with Iraq's Basra Oil Terminal, is used to export 'Basra blend' crude. The terminal was built in 1961 and lies south-east of the Al-Faw peninsual in the Arabian Gulf.

Crude produced at Iraq's southern fields, or processed at domestic refineries, is sent onto onshore storage facilities and exported into the Gulf via KAAOT. According the IEA analysis from a 2012 report, 113,000 bpd is exported via this route, compared to 1.5 million bpd via the Basra terminal and 442,000 bpd into the Gulf via single point mooring (SPMs).

=Capacity=

When the KAAOT re-opened for exports after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, it had an initial capacity of 300-400,000 barrels per day (bpd). By 2011 it still had an effecitve capacity of 300,000 bpd.

=Security=

According to the UK Ministry of Defence, since 2003 UK, US and Australian naval forces were committed to almost round-the-clock patrols of the waters around Khor al-Amaya, until responsibility was handed over to Iraqi forces.

In a 2009 US leaked diplomatic cable, it was reported that an Iranian letter claiming that the KAAOT was located in Iranian territorial waters had alarmed Iraqi officials.

= References =