Suspected insurgents using explosives set fire to the main oil pipeline in northern Iraq today.
The pipeline links an oil field in the northern city of Kirkuk to Iraq's largest oil refinery in Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad.
The explosion occurred at about 5 a.m., setting fire to the pipeline and several oil valves about 35 miles west of Kirkuk.
"The damage is 100 per cent, and we've haven't been able to control the fire yet," a fireman said.
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Iraq has the world's third-largest known oil reserves, but the industry has been crippled by several wars, sanctions during Saddam Hussein's rule and the anti-US insurgency.
Oil production remains limited, curbed by decaying infrastructure and frequent militant attacks on pipelines and refineries.