Bombing shuts down Iraq`s largest oil refinery
Baku, February 26 (AZERTAC). Militants attacked and shut down Iraq`s largest oil refinery on Saturday, killing four workers and setting off bombs near production units that started a raging fire, officials said.
The militants planted explosives at kerosene and benzene units at the refinery in the town of Baiji about 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, the governor of Salahuddin province, Ahmed al-Jubouri, said.
"The refinery has completely stopped,” Jubouri told Reuters. “It`s a big loss for the whole country. All Iraqi cities depend on its production.”
The blast, which happened before dawn, sparked a fire that was later brought under control, a police source said. It took about five hours and up to 50 fire trucks to contain the blaze.
The units that were damaged by the attack have a production capacity of around 150,000 barrels per day, a Baiji official said, adding the damage has been too severe to fix in few days.
Iraq does not export any oil products as it uses all of its production for power generation and domestic consumption.
The Baiji refinery was controlled for a long time by al-Qaeda militants, who used it to finance the insurgency.
Iraq currently has three major refineries - Baiji in the north, Basra in the south, and Dora in south Baghdad.
They have a combined capacity to handle 550,000 barrels per day of crude, producing refined products including 12 million liters (3.2 million gallons) of petrol, 15 million liters of diesel, nine million liters of heating oil and large volumes of fuel oil for power stations.
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