The National Oil Corporation announced that a fire had broken out in the crude oil export pipeline from the Sharara oil field at kilometer 538, near the Bir al-Marhan area in Hamada, as a result of a leak in one of the valves.

The NOC reassured citizens that the incident did not result in any injuries, confirming that emergency, firefighting, safety, and maintenance teams had arrived at the site of the leak and were “handling the incident professionally,” according to a statement posted on its Facebook page on Wednesday.

The statement noted that the Corporation’s Board of Directors is in constant session and has been monitoring developments in the situation and the progress made by maintenance teams from the very beginning, and that the relevant authorities immediately began the necessary investigations to determine the causes of this leak.

In a related development, the National Safety Authority stated that its teams have begun firefighting operations based on the following strategy: “Isolating the flow by smothering the flames to isolate the damaged section of the pipeline and reduce the fuel supply to the fire, and direct firefighting using chemical foam and advanced cooling techniques to contain the flames and prevent their spread.”