Pipelines hit in northern Iraq

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

From correspondents in Kirkuk
07sep04
SABOTEURS set ablaze a vital oil pipeline between the Iraqi city of Kirkuk and Turkey today, just a day after the fire that had halted all northern crude exports had been extinguished, an oil official told AFP.

"We had extinguished the fire Sunday at noon but unknown attackers reignited it Monday at 9.30am (local time) by setting fire to the oil that had leaked on both sides of the pipeline," Ahmed Ali, from the Northern Oil Co, said.

"It will take us another 24 hours to put it out again," he said.

Two days after the initial sabotage on Thursday, NOC security chief Ahmed Hassan Ghafif had said pumping to Turkey was halted until further notice and that the repairs would last a week, further crippling an ailing national economy which heavily relies on oil exports. A pipeline supplying gas to a major electrical plant south of Kirkuk was also attacked today, a local police official told said.

"This morning at 11.25, unknown attackers set fire to a gas pipeline in the Taza region" some 20km south of Kirkuk, police Colonel Ali Mustashar al-Obeidi said.

More:
http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,10693171%255E1702,00.html

[bemildred]

1. "unknown attackers"

LOL. Who could have expected this? Perhaps they will
call soon to take "credit".

[StClone]

2. Some wingnut told me

Acts such as blowing up Iraqi oil pipelines has no effect on world oil prices!

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

3. Probably the same wingnut that was on CSAN claiming that Saddam

was the "mastermind behind Al Quaeda.

[reprobate]

7. My favorite way of handling stupid statements like that:

Just a shake of the head, a small laugh, a deep sigh, and walk away. It usually has the desired effect of ridicule and exasperation. They are not worth argueing with.

[cliss]

4. (in a cynical mood this morning)

As long as a fair-skinned Yankee is in their country, pumping their oil while pointing a gun at them, there will be pipeline sabotage.

And don't try to tell me that acts of sabotage do not affect the price of crude oil. They do. Some places are more sensitive than others, however. If there is sabotage in Saudi Arabia, the futures market trembles in fear. They have the world's #1 supply.

However, Iraq had the #2 spot, so anything that happens there is going to affect the markets. Worldwide, the oil pumps are at maximum capacity (we have a little addiction going on).

I forget how much is running through the spigots currently. And how much of that do we guzzle? I believe the total is _______ million barrels per day (20 million?)

[Massacure]

5. The world uses about 80 million a day, with the U.S. taking 20 million

[leftchick]

6. photo from yahoo...

Iraqi workers fix a broken pipeline as heavy smoke billows in the background from an oil pipeline that was attacked by insurgents for the second time in four days and 24 hours after firefighters succeeded to control the raging fire.(AFP/Marwan Ibrahim)