- AMMAN -(Dow Jones)- Unknown attackers have blown up part of an Iraqi pipeline that pumps crude oil from Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish export terminal, Ceyhan, a senior Iraqi oil official and a shipping agent said Wednesday.”The pipeline was attacked and damaged Tuesday,” the official told Dow Jones Newswires by telephone from Baghdad.
The attack took place in the section of the pipeline connecting the oil-rich city of Kirkuk to the Baiji, home to Iraq’s largest oil refinery. Iraq usually pumps Kirkuk crude oil to the refinery, 250 kilometers north of Baghdad, which takes what it needs before it pumps the rest to Ceyhan.
The official said the pipeline blast was “catastrophic” as it caused huge quantities of crude oil to spill into the Tigris River.