Iraq Zubair depot fire sparks conflicting reports on Basra crude exports

Conflicting reports have emerged over the scale of disruption caused by a weekend fire at Iraq’s Zubair oil complex in Basra, one of the country’s key southern export hubs.

According to Iraq Oil Report (gated), an explosion at the Zubair-1 depot and pumping station led to a temporary shutdown of around 1.5 million barrels per day of Basra Medium crude exports, prompting efforts to reroute flows through alternative terminals in the Basra Gulf.

However, Iraq’s Oil Ministry and Reuters offered a more restrained account, describing the incident as a gas leak and subsequent fire in an old pumping system that was brought under control by mid-afternoon on Sunday. The ministry said one employee was killed and four others injured, while officials at the Basra Oil Company confirmed the blaze caused no interruption to crude throughput, which remains near 400,000 barrels per day.

Oilfield sources told Reuters the fire broke out during welding operations near a pipeline section that carries crude from the Zubair field to nearby storage tanks. The blaze was contained after several hours of firefighting, though some injured workers suffered severe burns.

The conflicting accounts underscore uncertainty over the extent of any disruption to Iraq’s southern oil exports.

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The Reuters reports carries the terrible news of the deaths of two employees in the incident.

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.