Following Attacks on Two Major Oil Pipelines in Southern Iraq, Oil Exports Halted

Following attacks on two major oil pipelines in southern Iraq, the country's oil exports have been halted. Officials state that repairs to the damaged oil pipelines, caused by explosions over the past three days, may take more than a week and halt Iraq's daily crude oil exports from a terminal near the city of Basra in southern Iraq. Iraq exports approximately 1.6 million barrels of oil daily. Iraqi officials say that oil exports from the pipelines damaged in this week's sabotage may resume on Friday. The attacks on the two pipelines in southern Iraq have led to the cessation of crude oil transport from terminals located in the Persian Gulf. Analysts and oil company officials say that repairs to the smaller pipeline may be completed by Friday, and full repairs could be finished by the end of next week. In another blow to Iraq's oil industry, the country's police report that armed men in the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq killed Ghazi Talabani, a senior security official at the Northern Oil Company. In another incident, the U.S. Army reports that in the city of Balad, north of Baghdad, three American soldiers were killed in a rocket attack near a U.S. base. 25 local residents were also injured in this attack. Bomb explosions in the city of Ramadi, located west of Baghdad, resulted in the deaths of six Iraqis, including a police officer. Seven Iraqis, including six members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in this bombing.