Iraq’s biggest oil refinery shut down after attack

February 28, 2011

Iraq's biggest oil refinery shut down after attack

February 27, 2011 2:39 AM GMT

Gunmen have attacked and bombed Iraq's largest oil refinery, Baiji, shutting

down the facility and killing at least five employees.

" Armed men entered the refinery and shot dead two of the engineers, " said Abdul

Qader al-Saab, the facility's deputy chief.

" Then they detonated bombs at one unit, the al-Shamal unit, of the refinery,

which represents 25 percent of the refinery's production. In the morning, we

came to put out the fire, which erupted as a result of the bombs. "

Baiji, located in Salaheddin province north of Baghdad, was badly damaged by a

fire. It was one of Iraq's three most important refineries and at one time was

controlled by Sunni insurgents to finance their activities. It produced about

150,000 barrels of oil per day (other sources its capacity is almost double that

figure)

Analysts said that while attacks on pipelines are common, targeting a refinery

itself is rare.

Ahmed al-Jubouri, the governor of Salaheddin province, told Reuters " it's a big

loss for the whole country. All Iraqi cities depend on its production. " .

Officials said the damage was severe and would take at least two weeks to

repair.

The attack followed days of protests across Iraq against the corruption of the

current regime of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and its perceived failure to

provide jobs and basic services, including fuel.

Another oil refinery, in Samawa in southern Iraq was also shut down by fire, but

reports indicate this was not due to a terrorist attack.

" Yet another concern is the attack's impact on the country's oil industry as a

whole, which only recently has begun to spring back to life. The government has

been trying to lure foreign investors to build four new refineries, without much

success " said Ruba Husari, editor of Iraq Oil Forum, according to the Washington

Post. " It has been difficult to get international companies to come to construct

these. Now you have another element of risk. "

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