Iraqi police defused bombs planted at
two oil wells
near the northern city of Kirkuk,
according to security and oil sources, who said exports to the Ceyhan port in Turkey were not
affected.
The bombs were discovered near two wells
producing crude from the Bai
Hassan oilfield, which is currently pumping around 150,000
barrels per day (bpd), officials at state-run North Oil Company (NOC) said.
No group has claimed responsibility, but several armed factions are active
in Kirkuk, and Sunni Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda often attack security forces and energy
installations in an attempt to undermine the Arab Shi'ite-led government.
Militants have recently stepped up
attacks against oil export pipelines in the north, a sign of the challenges Iraq faces to
protect its energy infrastructure as it rebuilds an industry battered by years
of war and sanctions.
Crude oil flows from the OPEC member to Turkey on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline
were interrupted in May due to repeated attacks and Iraq recently foiled an al
Qaeda plot to bomb a key Baghdad oil facility.
Violence has spiked since the start of the year as al Qaeda's local wing,
the Islamic State of Iraq, and other Sunni Islamist insurgents stepped up
attacks to try to stoke a wide scale sectarian conflict.
The bulk of Iraq's oil is exported from the southern terminals of Basra, but
just below 400,000 bpd - a quarter of all exports - is pumped through the
Kirkuk pipeline to Ceyhan port in Turkey.
