Turkey restarted crude flows through a ruptured pipeline linking Iraqi energy fields with international markets, the state oil operator said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Turkey's Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) had cut oil flow at the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline following an explosion near the southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş.

The operator said in a statement that the fire that broke out as a result of the explosion was completely extinguished as a result of the work of all our teams, and the cooling works were completed.

The unexplained blast along the Kirkuk-Ceyhan link 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.

BOTAŞ gave no indication for what caused the blast.

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.

The pipeline has been targeted by terrorist attacks before, both by the PKK and Daesh terrorist groups.

The pipeline had been exposed to intense attacks by the Daesh, and the attack in 2014 caused the Iraqi side of the pipeline to be closed.

In late September, the Iraqi Oil Ministry announced that Iraq and Turkey are going to reopen the 970-kilometer (602-mile) pipeline that transports Iraqi crude from Kirkuk to export facilities in Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast.