KIRKUK, Iraq, Aug 3 (AFP) - A major attack Tuesday on the main pipeline connecting the oil fields of Kirkuk with the Turkish port of Ceyhan has halted limited exports from northern Iraq, a Northern Oil Company official said.
"An improvised explosive device was placed close to a network of pipelines at the level of Al-Fateha, west of Kirkuk, causing a big explosion and huge fires that damaged the main pipeline running to Ceyhan and stopped exports," Nasir Qassim, a logistics and security official with the state-owned company, told AFP.
He said the attack occurred at about 6:00 am (1400 GMT) in an area 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Kirkuk.
The road connecting Kirkuk with the refineries in Beiji to the west was cut off as emergency workers battled to extinguish the raging flames, with Iraqi police and national guard units, and multinational troops securing the area.
Sand barriers were also erected to contain the fires, an AFP correspondent witnessed, as thick black smoke covered the skies and could be seen all the way from Kirkuk.
A oil ministry spokesman in Baghdad declined to comment on the attack.
The key northern artery only resumed work Sunday carrying 200,000 barrels a day after an attack in mid-July halted exports.
Until the end of June, the pipeline had been out of commission for about 10 months following a series of attacks and sabotage.
Repeated attacks on Iraq's oil infrastructure have defied the interim government's efforts to increase exports and bring in much needed hard currency for the country's reconstruction.
The bulk of Iraq's oil exports go through tanker terminals on the Gulf.
Exports from the southern oilfields have been running at up to 1.7 million barrels per day but have suffered periodic disruption in recent months, at least some of it the result of deliberate sabotage.