Pipeline blast cuts Iraq's southern oil exports

By Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Saboteurs blew up a major oil pipeline in Iraq on Thursday, cutting exports from the south of the country for the first time in years, a South Oil Company (SOC) official told Reuters.

The resulting blaze was quickly extinguished and officials said efforts were under way to get shipments back to normal from Iraq's second city of Basra where fighting broke out on Tuesday.

It is the first time since 2004 the vital southern route, responsible for about three quarters of Iraq's exports, has been disrupted. Officials had different views about how long it would take to restore supplies and the gravity of the incident.

U.S. crude rose by more than $1 to trade above $107 a barrel after news of the attack.

"This morning saboteurs blew up the pipeline transporting crude from Zubair 1 by placing bombs beneath it. The pipeline was severely damaged," the SOC official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Crude exports will be greatly affected because this is one of two main pipelines transporting crude to the southern terminals. We will lose about a third of crude exported through Basra," he said.

A source at the Basra terminal later on Thursday said oil was flowing to the terminal at around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd), down 300,000 bpd from average rates.

"The last figure I had for the oil pipeline from the Basra terminal is around 50,000 barrels per hour and the reason why it's not more than that is because of the damage to the pipeline earlier this morning," the source said.