LOC00:11
21:11 GMT
BAGHDAD, Oct 8 (KUNA) -- Iraq's South Oil Co. (SOC), a state-owned company,
affirmed Saturday that last night bomb attacks on oil and gas pipelines at
Rumaila Oilfield in Basra Governorate, south Iraq, brought the company's
production there to a standstill.
"The two almost simultaneous bombings severely damaged the pipelines
carrying gas and oil to Al-Zubair storage facility," SOC's Director General
Dia' Ja'far Al-Mousawi in a press conference here.
"The attacks resulted in huge fires, thus halting the operation of the oil
stations at Rumaila oilfield," he said, noting that the production has not
been resumed though firefighters managed to put out one of the two fires at 3:
00 am today and the second one three hours later.
Al-Mousawi urged the federal government and the local authorities of Basra
to develop a preemptive strategy against the terrorist attacks targeting the
oil facilities in the country.
Meanwhile, he highlighted his company's need for more qualified personnel
and more modern equipment to be better prepared for discharging its duties and
tackling emergencies. (end)
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