Iraqi oil exports from the Turkish terminal of Ceyhan are unlikely to be affected by a pipeline interruption, as there is adequate crude in storage at the export terminal, an Iraqi official said Thursday.

Earlier, a shipping agent told Dow Jones Newswires that oil flows from Iraq 's Kirkuk fields to Ceyhan have been on hold for five days, reportedly because of a leak in the main export pipeline.

A senior Iraqi oil official in Baghdad said saying that exports from Ceyhan wouldn't be affected because there were "enough crude in storage in Ceyhan and a pumping station inside Iraq ."

The shipping agent said the pipeline was pumping around 400,000-500,000 barrels a day before it was suspended.

Iraqi news agency Aswat Al Iraq quoted an official from the state North Oil Co. as saying that the flow was suspended because of a "leak caused by erosion in the main exporting pipeline near Salahuddin province. Technicians were sent to the scene to replace the eroded part of the oil pipeline, the official said.

The Kurds in northern Iraq , who use the same pipeline to export around 100,000 barrels a day from their own oil fields, complained last week that the pipeline suffered technical problems which forced them to half their exports.

Revenues from oil sales consist some 95% of Iraq 's government income. The country exported a total 2.189 million barrels a day in August from southern and northern export terminals.
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