The Iraqi Ministry of Oil said on Monday it had increased its production of oil derivatives from 70,000 to 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) after the rehabilitation of part of Iraq's largest oil refinery in the town of Baiji in Salahudin province.
During the opening ceremony of the rehabilitation of Salahudin/2, which is part of Baiji Refinery, Iraqi Minister of Oil Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail said that the ministry plans to restore the refinery to its previous capacity of 280,000 bpd before it was sabotaged in battles against militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group in the past years, according to a statement issued by the ministry.
"Depending on the available capabilities, we have succeeded in rehabilitating the refinery's Salahudin/2 part, with a capacity of 70,000 bpd, after it was destroyed by the IS," the ministry statement quoted Ismail as saying.
Deputy Oil Minister Hamid Younis stressed that restoring the capacity of Baiji Refinery to its previous 280,000 bpd is important, as the country's total oil refinery capacity was badly affected by the battles against IS militants after 2014.
In mid-2018, the ministry rehabilitated Baiji's refinery's Salahudin/1 part with capacity of 70,000 bpd, which has been producing kerosene, diesel and petrol.
The huge refinery site, some 200 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, witnessed intense fighting when IS militants captured large parts of Salahudin province in 2014. The Iraqi government forces liberated the refinery and its surrounding areas in April 2015.
Editor: Galia
