Iraq Keeps South Oil Pipeline Shut

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Media reports that the pipeline had restarted and flows returned to normal were inaccurate, said the official for the state-owned company, who declined to be identified.

"The situation is unchanged. Only the secondary export pipeline is operating," the official said. A sabotage attack on the main 48-inch pipeline on August 9 halved exports to one million barrels a day. Basra Light crude oil has since been flowing from southern fields to offshore Gulf terminals through a secondary pipeline.

The larger pipeline has capacity for 1.5 million barrels per day compared to one million for a smaller pipeline, which runs alongside it but is less visible. Security in the region has deteriorated in the past two weeks as U.S.-led forces launched attacks aimed at crushing an uprising led by Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=580&e=3&u=/nm/20040822/bs_nm/energy_iraq_dc

[Barrett808]

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