Explosion damages key oil pipeline in Iraq

Production at Baghdad's main al-Doura oil refinery could be affected by an explosion in an oil pipeline linking Iraq's northern…

Production at Baghdad's main al-Doura oil refinery could be affected by an explosion in an oil pipeline linking Iraq's northern and southern oilfields, an Iraqi Oil Ministry official said today.

The official said he still had no word on the blast, reported earlier by a US military spokesman, but that "if true, we will have to rely on crude from the south where oil installations are in very bad condition".

Al-Doura refinery has a current capacity of 80,000 barrels per day (bpd). It is the main refinery serving Baghdad.