Iraqi pipeline ablaze after explosions
Published: 8/4/2005

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KIRKUK, Iraq - A pipeline was on fire near the northern Iraqi oil centre of Kirkuk on Thursday following three explosions whose cause was not immediately known, a North Oil Company official said.

"Fire broke out on a secondary duct in the region of Tub Zawi, 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of Kirkuk," NOC fireman Ali Mohammed told AFP.

"The Americans told us three explosions took place on the duct... we have tried to limit the fire, but the flames are preventing us from reaching the duct to determine to source of the explosions," he said.

The number of attacks on Iraq's oil infrastructure has soared since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, but the country's oil minister said Monday that petroleum exports had reached their highest level since the US-led invasion.

Crude oil exports rose nearly 15 percent between June and July to reach 1.6 million barrels per day, against 1.44 million barrels the previous month, according to Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum.

08/04/2005 17:18 GMT