Iraq’s Biggest Oil Plant to Reopen After Militants Moved

20/11/2014

Iraq’s biggest oil refinery at Baiji is set to restart processing in about three months after government troops forced Islamic State armed militants away from the facility.

Iraqi troops will expel the militants from areas near a pipeline supplying the refinery 130 miles (209 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Colonel Khalaf al-Jabouri, a member of Iraq’s anti-terror forces, said by phone. It will take about three months to restart the plant because workers have fled to other provinces, refinery units need maintenance and militants still control part of the pipeline network, according to Saad al-Azzawi, an engineer at Baiji.

“We will secure the pipeline network that feeds oil to the refinery,” al-Jabouri said yesterday. “The Iraqi forces are now seeking to clear the path where the pipelines pass through to pump the oil to Baiji and also to export the crude to Turkey.”

Last Update:: 20/11/2014

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