Iraq 's crude oil pumping from Kirkuk oil fields to Turkey 's Ceyhan export terminal was still on hold Wednesday, the fourth running day, a Middle East shipping agent at the port said .

"The flow is still on hold and no idea when it will start," the agent told Dow Jones Newswires by telephone from the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan .

Pumping of Kirkuk crude oil has been suspended since Sunday afternoon for unknown reasons. Officials of the oil ministry in Baghdad said they had no idea what caused the closure.

However, at least one shipping agent has said that the halt could be caused by an act of sabotage against the export pipeline inside Iraq .

Before the halt, Iraq pumped about 450,000 barrels a day from Kirkuk oil fields to Ceyhan.

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