Repairs begin on Libyan oil pipeline damaged by blast

BENGHAZI: Repairs were carried out on Saturday on a Libyan oil pipeline badly damaged by an explosion four days earlier, an engineer said. The explosion on Tuesday ? about 130 kilometres (80 miles) south of the Es Sider terminal ? reduced output by an estimated 70,000-100,000 barrels per day (BPD), according to the National Oil Corporation (NOC). A picture sent to Reuters by the engineer ? who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media ? showed workers attending to a stretch of exposed pipeline. Other photos posted online showed a new section of pipe being lowered into the ground by a digger. The work on Saturday would be followed by testing, the engineer said. It was not clear how long it would take for production to be restored. Waha Oil Co ? which operates the pipeline ? has described the cause of the explosion as a ?terrorist attack?, without giving any details.