Politics

Pipeline explosion cuts electricity supply in southern Iraq

“A technical error because of the blazing summer heat in the city caused the blast, cutting off electrical wire transporting power to the surrounding areas.”

Mustafa Shilani 2019/08/14 15:26

middle east Iraq Power Station Explosion Gas Pipe Basra

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A pipeline blast on Wednesday in Iraq’s Al-Hartha city in the northeastern part of Basra disrupted the supply of power to local areas.

Officials from Iraq’s Oil Ministry said the incident – an explosion of the main gas pipe – caused a massive fire which did not affect gas and oil production, Reuters reported.

“A technical error because of the blazing summer heat in the city caused the blast, cutting off electrical wire transporting power to the surrounding areas,” police and civil defense confirmed.

They added that the gas supply to the power station was cut-off because “the scorching summer heat puts a lot of strain on power grids, resulting in longer power cuts in the cities.”

Most of Iraq’s oil is exported from Basra. It accounts for over 90 percent of the country’s revenue, and yet the region suffers from widespread inequality, poor services, and a lack of jobs.

Iraq has one of the world’s largest oil reserves and is the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), following Saudi Arabia and pumps around five million barrels of oil per day.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany