OREANDA-NEWS. Oil flows through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline linking Iraq to Turkey were halted early, an official at Iraq's North Oil Company (NOC) said.

 The reason for the stoppage, which started at around 0600 GMT, was not immediately clear, the official said, but the pipeline has been subject to repeated militant attacks and has also suffered from technical problems.

 "The technical crew is heading to the location to start repairs and it's difficult now to say when we could resume flow," the official said.

 On Monday the oil ministry said it was seeking international companies to build a backup pipeline from Kirkuk to the Turkish border.