Renewed violence spreads to oil sector

A significant proportion of the recent increase in bombings in Iraq has targeted oil installations, with a pipeline carrying crude from the northern Bai Hassan field being blown up yesterday, although it has had little noticeable effect on the northern region's exports.

This follows a string of other attacks, including a twin bombing targeting the Oil Ministry's main office in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Monday (4 May) and a bomb that damaged the 160,000-barrels-per-day (b/d) al-Doura refinery outside the capital on the same day.