TRIPOLI, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Libya's state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced Sunday that its firefighting teams managed to extinguish a pipeline fire caused by terrorists on Saturday.

"Firefighting teams controlled the fire in the pipeline at 12:30 p.m. (1030 GMT). Specialized teams... this morning started maintenance work of the pipeline," NOC said in a statement.

The corporation predicted that the maintenance would take a few days.

Preliminary investigations indicate that a deliberate attack caused the fire in an isolation valve on the pipeline, the statement revealed, estimating that oil production would be down by 80,000 barrels per day as a result.

A terrorist group on Saturday blew up a crude oil pipeline in the region, some 500 km east of the capital Tripoli, the Libyan petroleum installations guards said.

In December 2017, a terrorist group bombed a crude oil pipeline in a desert area through which it passes to Sidra oil port.

The repair work took more than a week, causing losses of more than 10 million U.S. dollars.