Global oil prices are bouncing back above $120 per barrel after a pro-Kurdish news agency said Kurdish rebels claimed responsibility for a fire at a critical Turkish pipeline.

Firat news agency reported the Kurdish rebel organization admitted sabotaging the pipeline Tuesday night. The fire was still smoldering Thursday.

Oil companies declared force majeure, freeing them of contractual obligations to deliver crude.

The pipeline has allowed the West to tap the rich fields of Azerbaijan, bypassing Iran and Russia.