Explosion stops Iraqi oil flow to Turkey

The explosion damaged parts of a twin pipeline running from Iraqi oil fields near the northern city of Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, the Turkish official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.

The oil pipeline recently has been shipping about 400,000 barrels per day. Iraq’s total exports have recently averaged about 1.65 million barrels per day.

The head of Iraq’s North Oil Co., Adel Kazaz, confirmed that insurgents blew up part of the pipeline Monday and said it was still on fire on Tuesday, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

"We don’t have detailed information, but the oil flow was cut Monday evening after an explosion,” the Turkish oil official at Ceyhan said. "I can’t say when they can resume pumping oil.”

Another source at Ceyhan told Dow Jones that the blast damage "looks serious and repairs could take some time.”

Kazaz declined to quantify the impact on the northern pipeline, Dow Jones said.

The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline has been attacked repeatedly since the fall of Saddam Hussein last year. The flow to Ceyhan only resumed late Sunday afternoon, a source at the terminal said Monday, after it was interrupted last week due to a technical problem on the Iraq side, Dow Jones reported.