Crude oil pumping from northern Iraq 's Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish Ceyhan port, which has been on hold since Sunday, is expected to resume in two days time, a senior Iraqi oil official said Tuesday.

"We need two more days to fix a leak in part of the northern export pipeline that took place inside Iraq ," the official, who spoke in condition of anonymity, told Dow Jones Newswires.

He also said that a power fault that hit a section of the pipeline inside Turkey also suspended the flow on Sunday.

Iraq usually exports some 400,000 barrels a day or quarter of its total oil exports, via the 790-kilometer pipeline from Iraq 's oil hub, Kirkuk in the north, to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey .

Meantime, five vessels from various international companies are waiting at anchorage in Ceyhan port to load Kirkuk crude, two Middle East shipping agents based in Ceyhan, said.

This is the third time the flow has been suspended this month, sometimes due to technical faults and other times blamed on sabotage. A week ago, a leak at a section of the pipeline near the Iraqi city of Mosul suspended the flow for five days.

The pipeline has also been repeatedly targeted by suspected insurgents in recent months, halting pumping in Iraq and Turkey . Earlier this month, an explosion carried out by insurgents who are fighting against the Turkish government suspended exports through the pipeline for two days.

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