Libya says it is investigating the cause of an explosion late on Tuesday on its pipeline conveying oil and condensate to the eastern port of Zueitina.
State energy firm, National Oil Corporation, NOC, said the blast happened at 10 pm local time on a section of the pipeline linking Field 103, which is operated by Zueitina Oil company, to the export terminal.
The NOC statement quoted acting NOC Chairman Abdulkasir Shengir as saying there were no casualties and that a crisis committee had been formed to conduct the investigation, the news wire said.
An engineer working for Zueitina, who declined to be named, was quoted as saying: “Yesterday (Tuesday) evening, some people from Ajdabiyah saw a big fire. They came here and the first thing they saw was a large pool of oil and they realised the pipeline was damaged.
“The fire was further away, and they saw the other pipeline was damaged.”
A Reuters reporter saw large pools of oil in the sand around the crude oil pipeline, around 20 kilometres south of the eastern town of Ajdabiyah.
Oil workers were trying to repair the damage and had cut about 2 metres of the pipeline.
A fire was still burning at the condensate pipeline about 5 kms away, although officials said it was smaller than before. Ajdabiyah is some 30 kms away from Zueitina. Plumes of smoke could still be seen from the town.
The pipeline also carries crude produced by the Abu Attifel field, which has a capacity of 70,000 bpd and is operated by the Mellitah Oil Company, a joint venture between the NOC and Italy’s Eni ; and oil from the smaller Nakhlah oil field, operated by Germany’s Wintershall.
“Initial reports show the initial explosion was on the condensate pipeline. That then had an impact on the crude pipeline, and due to the pressure it must have burst,” said Musbah Al-Warfalli, a Zueitina security official and a member of the crisis committee.
Asked if he thought the cause may have been sabotage, he said: “We don’t know. Some guards found mortars nearby, but I think these are left over from the war. The more realistic version is that there were technical problems, maybe the pressure inside.”
NOC officials have spoken of plans to upgrade Libyan pipelines, many of which are old.
“Maybe by tomorrow (Thursday) or after tomorrow the oil will flow through the pipeline again,” Warfalli said.
“But for the other pipeline it will take time. A large part will need to be replaced, and we want to properly investigate the cause.”
After the 2011 uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, it took Libya less time than expected to return to oil output close to the pre-war level of almost 1.6 million bpd. In recent months, protests have disrupted operations.
On Wednesday, Deputy Oil Minister Omar Shakmak said the OPEC member’s oil output was 1.55 million barrels bpd and could reach 1.7 million bpd by mid-2013.
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