- News>
- World
New blast hits Iraq fuel pipeline
Baghdad, June 23: Unknown assailants have attacked a fuel pipeline in western Iraq near the border with Syria, an oil ministry official said today, warning that such attacks could become a daily occurrence.
Baghdad, June 23: Unknown assailants have attacked a fuel pipeline in western Iraq near the border with Syria, an oil ministry official said today, warning that such attacks could become a daily occurrence.
"The ministry is aware of an attack near al-Abidiyah al-Gharbiya not far from the Syrian border," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"It seems there are people prepared to mount such attacks every day on Iraq's pipelines," he added, after a gas duct exploded west of Baghdad late Saturday in a blast described by residents as sabotage.
He did not give more details about the latest attack.
A pipeline passes near al-Abidiyah al-Gharbiya, around 300 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, carrying Iraqi oil to the Syrian terminal of Banias on the Mediterranean Sea and Tripoli in Lebanon, according to infrastructure plans.
US military officials said they were unable to confirm the attack.
An explosion ripped through a gas pipeline near the town of hit, 150 kilometres west of Baghdad late on Saturday, in what residents said was an attempt to sabotage us efforts to use Iraq's oil revenues to rebuild the country.
Director general of the northern oil co., Adel al-Qazzaz, said the pipeline belongs to the Basra Gas Company and carries gas from Basra in southern Iraq to the north.
The blast "seemed to be sabotage," he said.
US officials said they were unaware of the cause of the blast -- the second on Iraq's pipelines in as many weeks --after warning saturday that the fragile security situation in Iraq could threaten fuel export volumes.
An explosion ripped through a gas pipeline near the town of hit, 150 kilometres west of Baghdad late on Saturday, in what residents said was an attempt to sabotage us efforts to use Iraq's oil revenues to rebuild the country.
Director general of the northern oil co., Adel al-Qazzaz, said the pipeline belongs to the Basra Gas Company and carries gas from Basra in southern Iraq to the north.
The blast "seemed to be sabotage," he said.
US officials said they were unaware of the cause of the blast -- the second on Iraq's pipelines in as many weeks --after warning saturday that the fragile security situation in Iraq could threaten fuel export volumes.
The northern oil company said on Sunday that it would be forced to delay the resumption of oil flows through the main pipeline from Kirkuk in the north to The Turkish Mediterranean Terminal at Ceyhan due to damage inflicted by the earlier blast.
Bureau Report
"It seems there are people prepared to mount such attacks every day on Iraq's pipelines," he added, after a gas duct exploded west of Baghdad late Saturday in a blast described by residents as sabotage.
He did not give more details about the latest attack.
A pipeline passes near al-Abidiyah al-Gharbiya, around 300 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, carrying Iraqi oil to the Syrian terminal of Banias on the Mediterranean Sea and Tripoli in Lebanon, according to infrastructure plans.
US military officials said they were unable to confirm the attack.
An explosion ripped through a gas pipeline near the town of hit, 150 kilometres west of Baghdad late on Saturday, in what residents said was an attempt to sabotage us efforts to use Iraq's oil revenues to rebuild the country.
Director general of the northern oil co., Adel al-Qazzaz, said the pipeline belongs to the Basra Gas Company and carries gas from Basra in southern Iraq to the north.
The blast "seemed to be sabotage," he said.
US officials said they were unaware of the cause of the blast -- the second on Iraq's pipelines in as many weeks --after warning saturday that the fragile security situation in Iraq could threaten fuel export volumes.
An explosion ripped through a gas pipeline near the town of hit, 150 kilometres west of Baghdad late on Saturday, in what residents said was an attempt to sabotage us efforts to use Iraq's oil revenues to rebuild the country.
Director general of the northern oil co., Adel al-Qazzaz, said the pipeline belongs to the Basra Gas Company and carries gas from Basra in southern Iraq to the north.
The blast "seemed to be sabotage," he said.
US officials said they were unaware of the cause of the blast -- the second on Iraq's pipelines in as many weeks --after warning saturday that the fragile security situation in Iraq could threaten fuel export volumes.
The northern oil company said on Sunday that it would be forced to delay the resumption of oil flows through the main pipeline from Kirkuk in the north to The Turkish Mediterranean Terminal at Ceyhan due to damage inflicted by the earlier blast.
Bureau Report