Bombs hit Iraqi oil pipelines
Two bombs have struck separate oil pipelines in southern Iraq at the country’s largest oil field, causing a temporary cut in production, officials said today.
The deputy head of the Basra provincial council, Ahmed al-Sulaiti, said the blasts hit the pipelines in the Rumaila field late Friday, sparking a fire that was put out by firefighters a few hours later.
Such violence is rare in southern Iraq, where international oil companies have begun flooding in to develop Iraq’s vast oil reserves.
The director-general of the state-run South Oil Co, Dhia Jaafar, says the blasts forced officials to cut production in half but said it should be restored to normal levels in two days.
Rumaila is being developed by BP and China’s CNPC.
