Bombs Target Iraq Oil Pipelines, Exports Unaffected

Multiple bomb attacks set oil pipelines ablaze in southern Iraq but exports were not affected, oil ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said on Wednesday,.

"Around 9.00 pm (18:00 GMT Tuesday), several bombs damaged pipelines transporting oil from the Rumaila-south oil field to the Zubair-1 storage facility," Jihad told Agence France Presse, referring to sites in south Iraq.

"This sabotage sparked a large fire which was brought under control at 7.00 am (04:00 GMT) on Wednesday. Exports were not affected by these attacks. Repairs should take around one week."

A security official in Basra, Iraq's southernmost province where the attacks took place, said a total of three blasts targeted the pipelines.

Iraq is dependent on oil exports for virtually all of its government income. The country produces around 2.9 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), of which around 2.1 million bpd is exported.

It aims to raise the former figure to around 12 million bpd by 2017.

The attacks come with just weeks to go before the U.S. military completes a full withdrawal from Iraq, at which point security will be handled entirely by domestic forces.