Libya oil company says broken pipeline causes crude spill

BY SAMY MAGDY
Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — Libyan authorities say a pipeline rupture is spewing thousands of barrels of oil into the desert, as workers scramble to seal off the leak. The damage to a land pipeline linking the Sarir oil field to the Tobruk terminal on the Mediterranean was the latest blow to Libya’s struggling oil industry, as renewed tensions again divide the chaos-stricken country. The Arabian Gulf Oil Company, which operates the pipeline, estimates that some 22,000 barrels a day were being lost from the leak, which started Tuesday. It posted footage of the spill and said efforts to stop it were still underway.