Two wells at Bai Hassan catch fire, one extinguished
Ministry didn't disclose if production was affected
Marks second attack on field in less than a month
Dubai — Iraq's Bai Hassan oil field in the northern Kirkuk region was attacked by explosives on May 5 causing two wells to catch fire and leaving casualties, the oil ministry said, as OPEC's second largest producer continues to grapple with security incidents against its energy infrastructure.
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Register NowA fire at one well was extinguished, while the ministry is working to put out the fire at the other well, it said in a statement May 5.
The ministry didn't disclose whether production was affected nor did it specify the number of casualties. The ministry's spokesperson couldn't be reached for comment.
This is the second attack on Bai Hassan in less than a month after two of its wells were hit by explosives on April 17, without affecting production at the field. The ministry at the time didn't say who was behind the attack, which was later claimed by the Islamic State, according to media reports.
The Bai Hassan field is currently operated by Iraq's state-run North Oil Company after Baghdad took control of the key oil-producing area from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government in 2017.
Production from the NOC-operated fields -- comprising Bai Hassan, Avana Dome, Bab Dome, Jambour and Khabbaz, are all in the Kirkuk area.
Kirkuk exports drop
Total Kirkuk oil exports via the Turkish port of Ceyhan fell 3.7% on the month to 95,447 b/d in April, the ministry said May 2.
Iraq pumped 3.95 million b/d in March, breaching its 3.857 million b/d quota for the second month in a row, according to the latest S&P Global Platts' OPEC+ survey.
Energy infrastructure in Iraq is often attacked as security in some parts of the country remains lax. Attacks by the Islamic State, which was ousted from Iraq in December 2017 after almost four years of fighting, have resurged but at a less intensive pace.
The federal government in Iraq restarted exports of Kirkuk crude through the Kurdistan-Turkey pipeline in November 2018.
In October 2017, federal government forces recaptured the key Kirkuk fields from the KRG and NOC and subsequently took control of them, shutting down exports from the northern pipeline route by around 300,000 b/d. Before November 2018, federal Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization had not exported any crude oil from the Turkish port of Ceyhan since June 2017.
The Kirkuk fields were taken by KRG forces from the Islamic State in June 2014, before they were then ousted by the Iraqi army in October 2017.
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Two oil wells hit by blast at Iraq's northern Bai Hassan field: ministry - S&P Global
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