Iraq has repaired a sabotaged oil export pipeline in the south of the country and hopes to restart loadings of Basra Light crude later, an oil industry source said. ?We?re hoping to restart Basra Light exports later today.? He said Iraqi officials have attempted to keep news of the pipeline repair quiet in order to avert another sabotage attack.

He declined to say what volume of crude would initially be exported, but industry sources said last week they aimed for a rate of about 700, 000 barrels per day.

Saboteurs blew holes last week in the 42-inch pipeline and another 48-inch pipeline, bringing all of Iraq?s Basra Light exports to a halt.

The attack was the second in just over a month on the pipelines that feed Iraq?s vital Gulf oil terminals.

It took almost two weeks for full exports to resume after the bigger pipeline was blown up in early May.

The pair of pipelines feed the main Basra terminal, formerly known as Mina al-Bakr, and the smaller Khor al-Amaya terminal.

An international shipping agent said earlier that exports could start flowing overnight if test runs following welding repairs succeed. ?Nothing is official really, but we could have loadings tonight?, he said.

Attacks on northern oil installations earlier this month stopped what amounted to 200,000 barrels per day of exports through a Turkish port.