AMARA, Iraq, Aug 16 (AFP) - A massive fire was still raging Monday, one day after insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at an oil well in southern Iraq, the head of Amara's civil defence force said.
"Unknown assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades on an oil well setting it ablaze yesterday (Sunday) at 2:00 pm (1000 GMT)," Lilu Saadun al-Muhamadawi, head of the province's civil defence force told AFP.
"So far it has been impossible to extinguish the fire as this could only be done by using planes," he added.
The torched oil well was 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Amara near the village of Al-Mawil, the source said.
A spokesman for the Southern Oil Company said Saturday that a crucial pipeline in the south had been shut for security reasons, piling pressure on world markets.
Prices climbed to a new record high level of 44.11 dollars a barrel in London on Monday as traders took fright at the new sabotage in southern Iraq.
Brent North Sea crude for September delivery climbed 22 cents a barrel to break above 44 dollars for the first time.
Loyalists of rebel leader Moqtada Sadr, whose Shiite Muslim militia have been engaged in a showdown with US-led troops in Najaf, have threatened southern oil infrastructure if the fighting continues in the central holy city.