Turkey has begun to repair a pipeline taking crude oil from northern Iraq to the Mediterranean through its restive southeast and aims to restore flows soon, the Turkish Energy Ministry said on Saturday. "Work has been launched to repair rapidly the damage caused on the pipeline and the necessary measures have been taken for the line's security. It is envisaged that supplies will begin again in the shortest time," it said in a statement, Reuters reported. The pipeline, which has been repeatedly sabotaged in recent months, normally carries some 600,000 barrels per day of crude from Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region and the disputed Kirkuk oilfields to the port of Ceyhan for export, Reuters reported. Kurdistan Workers' Party fighters carried out a bomb attack on the pipeline in the Idil district of Sirnak Province on Feb. 25. The ministry said there was no fire as a result of the bomb as the crude flow had already been stopped, but pipes of 40- and 46-inch diameters were damaged.
