Iraq closes one main oil exporting pipelines following threats

One Iraqi oil official said yesterday that the main oil pipeline which carried exportation oil in al-Basra city to the south of Iraq was blocked after intelligent information said that Shiite gunmen might attack the basic infrastructure for oil industry.

The official who asked to by anonymous said that the situation in Basra is bad, a matter which pushed the authorities forward to close the pipeline at a late time Saturday evening.

A spokesman for the southern oil company said that the production stopped since the beginning of the crisis and the eruption of fighting in Najaf and the followed tension in the cities of the south, noting that feeding the pipeline was stopped for the exportation oil pipeline.

On Monday, the south oil company stopped pumping oil because of the threats by the supporters of the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sader to attack oil installations.

Iraq exports some 1.8 million barrels daily of oil via its ports in the south, while the oil pipeline which links the north oil fields ( Karkouk) to Jeihan port in Turkey is unused because of gunmen attacks.

The announcement of halting oil production in the south had a direct effect on crude oil price in the world market where record levels registered.