ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani said Tuesday that oil exports from Zubair oilfield in the country's southern Basra province resumed after a sudden explosion sparked a blaze that killed one and injured several others on Sunday.

A blast caused by “a leakage accident” at one of the gas systems at a warehouse Zubair oilfield on Sunday killed at least one and injured four others.

Exports were restored through the “Zubair Two” warehouse which Basra Oil Company (BOC) had designed with emergencies in mind to ensure business continuity in case of unforeseen circumstances, Abdul Ghani tolr reporters on Tuesday.

“The duration of extinguishing the fire that broke out in one of the Zubair warehouses did not exceed six hours,” the minister noted.

He added that firefighting teams isolated the damaged warehouse from the rest of the area so that export operations could continue without interruption.

Basra is the southernmost province of Iraq on the Gulf, bordering Kuwait and Iran.

Initial investigations indicated that the fire originated from a gas leak in one of the pipes at the storage depot while workers were conducting welding operations. The pipeline which caught fire transported crude oil to nearby storage tanks.