Fire, Explosions Hit Iraq-Turkey Pipeline

Reuters ^ | 06-13-03

[Brian S]

Fri June 13, 2003 09:14 AM ET

By Michael Georgy and Steve Bryant

BAGHDAD/ANKARA (Reuters) - The main oil export pipeline linking Iraq and Turkey, halted since the U.S.-led war on Baghdad, was hit by fire and explosions due to a gas leak, U.S. authorities in Iraq said on Friday.

Turkey said investigations were under way to establish whether sabotage was to blame for the blast at the Iraqi section of the pipeline in northern Iraq late on Thursday.

U.S. military spokesmen said there was no sign that sabotage had caused the explosions, which comes after occupying U.S. forces have blamed saboteurs for undermining their efforts to restore the oil industry.

"There is no evidence that there was any hostile intent. U.S. and Iraqi engineers are assessing the extent of the damage," a spokesman told Reuters.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, in an early response, said there was sabotage and that an investigation was under way.

But a Foreign Ministry official said later Ankara had not yet received conclusive evidence on whether the blast was caused by a leak or sabotage.

It was not yet clear whether the fire had been extinguished at the site, just north of the town of Bayji near Kirkuk.

The 600-mile pipeline from the Kirkuk oilfields to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan had a capacity of 1.1 million barrels per day before the war, and has not yet resumed pumping oil.

Post-war looting and sabotage at oil facilities have delayed the resumption of Iraq's oil exports and will keep shipments well below pre-war levels for several months.

Baghdad on Thursday concluded its first oil sales since the U.S.-led war, awarding a tender to sell 10 million barrels of crude held in storage.

A steady flow of oil through the pipeline was expected to begin later this month.

It is still not clear whether oil production in northern Iraq was affected. A U.S. military spokesman said he did not know if oil was flowing through the pipeline at the time of the explosions and fire.

Iraq is struggling to revive its oil industry, which was battered by years of wars and United Nations sanctions under the rule of Saddam Hussein.

Despite pressure from the United States and local Kurds for it to pull out, Turkey keeps a military force in northern Iraq to crack down on Kurdish rebels based there and monitor the local Kurdish administration.

Having fought Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq since 1984, Turkey sees the region as crucial to its own security.