Pipeline blast cuts Iraq's southern oil exports

Officials in Baghdad said the pipeline was not severely damaged and output was returning to previous levels.

But engineers on the ground in the south said fighting was hampering efforts to repair the line and they were waiting until Friday morning to begin work. It could then take up to three days to carry out repairs.

Saboteurs blew up a major oil pipeline in Iraq on Thursday, sharply reducing exports from the south of the country for the first time in years, a South Oil Company (SOC) official told Reuters.

The resulting blaze was quickly extinguished and officials said efforts were under way to get shipments back to normal from Iraq’s second city of Basra where fighting broke out on Tuesday.

It is the first time since 2004 that the vital southern supply route has been disrupted. Officials had different views about how long it would take to restore supplies and the seriousness of the incident.

“This morning saboteurs blew up the pipeline transporting crude from Zubair 1 by placing bombs beneath it. The pipeline was severely damaged,” the SOC official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Crude exports will be greatly affected because this is one of two main pipelines transporting crude to the southern terminals. We will lose about a third of crude exported through Basra,” he said.

U.S. crude rose by more than $1 to trade above $107 a barrel after news of the attack.

Officials in Baghdad by contrast were optimistic the damage could be contained.

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