Iraq pipelines bombed: oil exports unaffected

Five bombs are reported to have exploded at an oilfield in Northern Iraq on Saturday; the explosions damaged two pipelines, but the country’s oil exports have not been affected.

Abid Hassan, the Mayor of Dibis district, the region in which the fields are located, was reported as saying that, “There was an explosion against oil pipelines in the Bai Hassan oil field; it was a terrorist attack.” The attack did not cause any fires and repairs are already underway.

A police official stated that a further four bombs had been discovered in the same area and had been successfully diffused.

An executive from the state-run North Oil Co. said, “There is no protection for this oilfield from the oil and security ministries … They depend on tribes who live nearby to protect them, but these tribes do not have arms.”

The majority of Iraq’s oil exports leave the country via terminals in the south, however, approximately 450 000 bpd is transported through the northern Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline.

Edited from various sources by David Bizley

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