A key Iraqi gas pipeline carrying gas from Iraq's northern oil fields to
power stations was on fire Friday following an explosion, the Iraqi oil
ministry said.
The ministry gave no reason for the causes of the blast but
said its teams are investigating the incident that took place early
Friday.
"The pipeline suffered an explosion at 0330 am local time at a
place 60 kilometers southwest of Krikuk," Assem Jihad, the ministry
spokesman said.
The pipeline links the northern oil fields with power stations in Baiji, Mosul and Taji near Baghdad.
"Our technical teams were able to extinguish the fire Friday
afternoon and the flow of gas is expected to resume in two to three
days," Mr. Jihad said.
The security situation in Iraq has been deteriorating over the
last few weeks as bombing and killing all over the country has
intensified. The Shiite-led government is blaming al Qaeda as well as
former Bath party members for the insurgency.
The incident could worsen Iraq's power shortages. The country
produces only half its power needs, estimated at 15,000 megawatts. Iraq
already imports around 1,000 megawatts of electricity from Iran.
Power outages have prompted antigovernment demonstrations over
the past few weeks in Shiite-dominated governorates in southern Iraq,
where summer temperatures can exceed 50 Celsius.
Not far from the gas pipeline, Iraq's main pipeline that
carries crude oil from the northern oil fields to the Mediterranean port
of Ceyhan in Turkey has been idle for most of last month due to bombs
and leakage.