ISTANBUL: Turkey's state oil operator said on Wednesday it was about to restart crude flows through a ruptured pipeline linking Iraqi energy fields with international markets.

Tuesday's unexplained blast along the Kirkuk-Ceyhan link in southern Turkey contributed to a rise in international crude oil prices to a seven-year high.

The pipeline normally carries more than 450,000 barrels a day from oil fields in northern Iraq to a Turkish port on the Mediterranean Sea.

Turkey's sate oil operator Botas said the fire had been fully extinguished late Tuesday but gave no indication for what caused the blast.

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It said early on Wednesday that "all the necessary precautions have been taken" and oil flows would resume later in the day.

The blast occurred in wintery weather conditions in a sparsely populated region of southern Turkey.

Images on social media showed huge fireballs illuminating the night sky in snow-covered fields.

Local officials said the blast also halted traffic along a highway linking the southern cities of Adana and Gaziantep.