AFP reported that a crude oil pipeline in northern Iraq was damaged by attempted sabotage earlier this week.

Mr Assem Jihad an oil ministry spokesman said that the pipeline was isolated after the incident but production and exports were not affected because it carried crude to a storage unit with sufficient reserves.

Mr Jihad said that Sabotage targeting an export pipeline for crude oil was carried out around dawn Monday in Nineveh province, Jihad said without providing more details about the attack. It caused a fire but firemen controlled it. He said that "Because we have enough storage, it did not affect us. Our oil staff in the North Oil Company is in the final stages of repairing the pipeline."

Iraq currently produces around 2.5 million barrels per day of crude oil but Mr Hussein al-Shahristani oil minister of Iraq wants production to be ramped up to between 10 million barrels per day and 12 million barrels per day within 6 years. Around 85% of Iraqi government revenues are from oil sales.

(Sourced from AFP)