Another refinery put to work in southern Iraq (28/10/05)

The refinery in the southern province of Dhiqar is back on stream and churning 10,000 barrels a day.

The new refinary will increase work in Iraq

The refinery is one of several other small refining units built to meet domestic needs of major cities. The State Contract Company rehabilitated the refinery which currently produces gasoline, kerosene and fuel oil, the company said in a statement.

It said the repairs were carried out in close cooperation with the Ministry of Oil. “The company has signed a new contract with the Oil Ministry to construct five new small refining units in the country,” the statement added.

Iraq, the world’s second largest in oil reserves, has enormous refining problems.It currently spends hundreds of millions of dollars on fuel imports from neighboring countries with its major refineries working below capacity mainly due to acts of sabotage.

The Oil Ministry intends to build a small refinery in each of the country’s provinces to alleviate demand pressure on major refining complexes in Baiji in the north and Basra in the south.

Source: Azzaman