Iraqis gather at a pond of oil that leak

AL-ZUBAIR, IRAQ: Iraqis gather at a pond of oil that leaked from a nearby pipeline damaged by insurgents in al-Zubair, some 50 kms south of the southern Iraqi city of Basra, 29 November 2004. An explosion on a pipeline in southern Iraq the previous day caused a fire and disrupted the flow of oil from wells in Rumaila field toward the Basra terminal but did not affect exports, an oil company official said. In another incident, a pipeline south of Basra was damaged during maintenance work, interrupting the oil flow from wells to a pumping station, an oil source said. AFP PHOTO/ESSAM AL-SUDANI (Photo credit should read ESSAM AL-SUDANI/AFP via Getty Images)