By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
(Reuters)
BAGHDAD -- Saboteurs attacked a strategic oil pipeline linking Iraq's northern and southern fields on Sunday, further cutting exports that were halved by a hole blown in another pipeline a day before, officials and witnesses said.
The attacks on oil -- Iraq's economic lifeblood -- undermine the new Iraqi government's attempt to bring about economic recovery and improve the poor living conditions that feed insurgency and political unrest.
An international oil company executive said the attackers had good intelligence.
"They seem to have access to maps and inside information about pumping. They do not want any body to do business in Iraq, and they are succeeding," he said.
"This will only help oil prices stay high. We must not forget that there are regional powers that prefer seeing Iraqi supplies disrupted."
Smoke rising hundreds of meters into the air from the pipeline hit on Sunday in the Hawijat al-Fallujah area could be seen from Baghdad some 50 miles to the northeast.
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has vowed to defeat saboteurs who have stopped Iraqi oil exports several times this year.
Industry insiders say northern crude was being secretly pumped through the strategic pipeline from Kirkuk fields for export through two offshore southern terminals.
Northern crude is usually pumped through a pipeline to Turkey, but sabotage has forced Iraq to divert flows south.
Oil prices are hovering around $36 a barrel for Brent crude and $2 higher for U.S. light crude -- a level seen as taking into account the risk of further cuts in Iraqi supplies.
Iraq's exports from the southern terminals fell to 960,000 barrels per day (bpd) on Saturday after saboteurs blew a hole in one of two pipelines feeding them.
Iraq used to export around 2 million bpd of crude -- all through the south -- before the latest attacks.
The Saturday attack on the smaller of two pipelines feeding the offshore terminals stopped operations at the Khor al-Amya terminal and restricted flows to the Basra terminal, from where most Iraqi oil is exported.
Flows to tankers at the Basra terminal platforms, formerly known as Mina al-Bakr, were running at 41,000 barrels per hour on Sunday.
Senior Iraqi security official Ahmad al-Khafaji told Reuters last week that sabotage against oil facilities would continue unless countries bordering Iraq stop the infiltration of the foreign militants alleged to be behind the attacks.
(Additional reporting by Akram Saleh in Falluja)
(Reuters)
BAGHDAD -- Saboteurs attacked a strategic oil pipeline linking Iraq's northern and southern fields on Sunday, further cutting exports that were halved by a hole blown in another pipeline a day before, officials and witnesses said.
The attacks on oil -- Iraq's economic lifeblood -- undermine the new Iraqi government's attempt to bring about economic recovery and improve the poor living conditions that feed insurgency and political unrest.
An international oil company executive said the attackers had good intelligence.
"They seem to have access to maps and inside information about pumping. They do not want any body to do business in Iraq, and they are succeeding," he said.
"This will only help oil prices stay high. We must not forget that there are regional powers that prefer seeing Iraqi supplies disrupted."
Smoke rising hundreds of meters into the air from the pipeline hit on Sunday in the Hawijat al-Fallujah area could be seen from Baghdad some 50 miles to the northeast.
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has vowed to defeat saboteurs who have stopped Iraqi oil exports several times this year.
Industry insiders say northern crude was being secretly pumped through the strategic pipeline from Kirkuk fields for export through two offshore southern terminals.
Northern crude is usually pumped through a pipeline to Turkey, but sabotage has forced Iraq to divert flows south.
Oil prices are hovering around $36 a barrel for Brent crude and $2 higher for U.S. light crude -- a level seen as taking into account the risk of further cuts in Iraqi supplies.
Iraq's exports from the southern terminals fell to 960,000 barrels per day (bpd) on Saturday after saboteurs blew a hole in one of two pipelines feeding them.
Iraq used to export around 2 million bpd of crude -- all through the south -- before the latest attacks.
The Saturday attack on the smaller of two pipelines feeding the offshore terminals stopped operations at the Khor al-Amya terminal and restricted flows to the Basra terminal, from where most Iraqi oil is exported.
Flows to tankers at the Basra terminal platforms, formerly known as Mina al-Bakr, were running at 41,000 barrels per hour on Sunday.
Senior Iraqi security official Ahmad al-Khafaji told Reuters last week that sabotage against oil facilities would continue unless countries bordering Iraq stop the infiltration of the foreign militants alleged to be behind the attacks.
(Additional reporting by Akram Saleh in Falluja)
