- BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- Saboteurs
attacked one of two oil pipelines feeding Iraq's southern export terminals
on Saturday, halving the country's exports to 960,000 barrels per day,
officials and a shipping agent said.
-
- The attack on the pipeline succeeded despite beefed-up
security after similar attacks last month and vows by the new government
to restore stability to the country.
-
- "It was sabotage," said one oil official, who
declined to be named.
-
- Efforts were focusing on putting out the fire in the
pipeline on the Faw Peninsula. Oil has to then be drained from the site
before repairs could begin, he added.
-
- Engineering crews from the South Oil Company will be
dispatched early on Sunday to assess the damage and estimate how long the
repairs would take, the official said.
-
- Operations at the Khor al-Amaya terminal were forced
to halt and the export flow rate at the bigger Basra terminal, formerly
known as Mina al-Bakr, was down to 40,000 barrels per hour from up to 70,000
before the attack, according to an international shipping agent.
-
- One tanker had finished loading from an offshore platform
at Khor al-Amaya just before the morning attack and two were loading from
the nearby Basra terminal.
-
- Attacks on Iraq's pipelines halted exports several times
this year and helped drive up oil prices, which are hovering around $36
a barrel for Brent crude and $2 higher for U.S. light crude.
-
- Last month saboteurs blew holes in the 42-inch and 48-inch
pipelines feeding the two terminals. They also attacked the main export
pipeline through Turkey, bringing exports to a halt.
-
- Iraq has managed to export only 13 million barrels per
day (bpd) of northern crude through Turkey since the war last year.
-
- Industry insiders say some northern crude was being secretly
pumped through another pipeline for export through the southern terminals
before Saturday's sabotage.
-
- The sabotage attacks, which spread this year to include
oil installations in the country's mostly Shi'ite south, has helped prevent
Iraq from reaching the prewar export level of around 2.2 million bpd.
-
- Iraq was exporting close to 2 million bpd, all from its
two terminals in the south, before the latest attack. The oil revenue is
vital to meet demands for public spending and placate millions of people
who were marginalized under 35 years of Baath party rule.
-
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