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Oil exports from Iraq’s northern fields were completely halted on Saturday following a rebel attack on a major pipeline west of the oil centre of Kirkuk, an Iraqi oil industry official said.
"We have some interruption in the pipeline. There are no exports at all right now," the official said on condition of anonymity.
He said he had "no idea" when exports might resume since the scale of the damage had not yet been assessed.
An official in charge of oil installation protection said the explosion occurred after insurgents ignited an oil leak.
"Rebels set fire to some crude oil that was leaking from the pipeline. The fire then engulfed the pipeline, setting off an explosion," said Captain Ali Obeidi.
The pipeline links the four Kirkuk oilfields to the Baiji refinery 200 kilometres north of Baghdad.
Kirkuk’s oil exports are pumped to Ceyhan in Turkey and exports can currently reach up to 350 000 barrels per day, though limited storage capacity means pumping is restricted to around three days a week.
Iraqi oil installations are also a frequent target of rebel attacks, especially the country’s restive north.
Earlier this week, officials said attacks on oil installations averaged 25 a week.
In late August, oil exports from southern fields around Basra were interrupted for a short time because of a power failure that may have been caused by a sabotage.
At least two thirds of Iraq’s 1.6 million barrels per day of oil exports come from the southern oilfields.
Iraq’s vast oil reserves, the world’s second biggest after Saudi Arabia, are largely concentrated in the north and in the south of the country.
In early August, Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum said oil exports and revenue had reached their highest levels since the US-led invasion of March 2003.