Beiji - An attack on a pipeline in northern Iraq has halted exports of oil via Turkey, Iraq's state oil company said on Tuesday.

A huge explosion in the early hours of Tuesday destroyed the pipeline at a refinery in Beiji, around 220km north of Baghdad, a company employee confirmed.

Firefighters were battling to control the flames.

The pipeline runs from the oilfields around Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. - Sapa-dpa