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ANKARA, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Gas flow on the Shah Denizpipeline carrying natural gas from Azerbaijan was halted by anexplosion in Turkey on Monday evening, energy sector officialssaid, with one saying it was thought Kurdish militants hadsabotaged the pipeline.
The officials told Reuters that gas flow had been halted onAug. 3 due to maintenance and had only resumed on Aug. 23 buthad not yet reached capacity before Monday's blast.
"Last night there was an explosion in the pipeline on theTurkish side and the flow stopped," one senior official said.
Another official said damage assessment was set to begin onTuesday and that it would not be clear when the gas flow wouldresume until after the assessment.
An explosion had previously hit the pipeline on Aug. 4,after the flow had already been suspended for maintenance. Thatwas days after an attack by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)militants halted the flow in a pipeline carrying crude oil toTurkey from Iraq.
Shah Deniz, Azerbaijan's biggest gas field, is beingdeveloped by partners including British oil major BP,Azeri state energy company SOCAR and others.
Turkey has witnessed a surge in violence in recent weekswith the PKK targeting Turkish security forces andinfrastructure while Turkey has struck PKK camps in northernIraq. (Reporting by Orhan Coskun; Editing by Daren Butler and MichaelPerry)
