KIRKUK, Iraq - Saboteurs blew up a pipeline 60 kilometres (45 miles) west of Kirkuk Sunday, just a day after repairs to the route connecting the lucrative oil field to a major refinery in Baiji, the fire service said.
"The blast happened just after 9:00 am (0600 GMT) on a pipeline transporting crude oil between Kirkuk and Baiji," said Northern Oil Company fireman Abdullah Hamad Ali.
"The pipeline was just repaired yesterday, but it has been attacked again."
Firemen and police were putting out the blaze, he said.
Oil exports from Kirkuk to Turkey have been shut down by an intense campaign of sabotage.
Rebels also regularly attack pipelines between Kirkuk and Baiji, where oil is processed for domestic and foreign consumption.
The petrol industry has been crippled by rotting infrastructure, attacks by insurgents as well as smuggling.
The ministry estimated in February its losses at between seven and eight billion dollars due to rebel attacks since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003.
Iraq, with the second largest oil reserves in the world, relies on its energy resources to keep its economy afloat.