Iraq has resumed crude oil production from Rumaila South oil field after two blasts Friday night near an export pipeline forced a partial suspension of output from the field in southern Iraq , Iraqi oil and company officials said Monday.

A Middle East shipping agent in Basra port in southern Iraq said Iraqi crude oil exports from southern oil fields were running at normal flow at 74,000 barrels an hour, or 1.776 Monday.

BP PLC (BP), which is developing the supergiant Rumaila oil field along with China National Petroleum Corp. and Iraq 's state South Oil Company, had to shut down four production units in the southern part of field after the blasts, which blew up part of the pipeline that carries crude from the field to a gathering deposits near the export terminals.

"We have been asked to resume production," a BP spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires. He gave no details on how much oil they are pumping from Rumaila South.

However, an Iraqi oil official said output was resumed from the Rumaila South at 450,000 barrels a day. Normally this part of the field pumps around 650,000 barrels a day.

Rumaila North, which has not been affected by the incident, pumps another 650,000 barrels a day.

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