Shafaq News / Iraq is moving rapidly to complete work on a project to repair Iraq’s largest oil refinery, which was severely damaged during the war with ISIS 7 years ago, Shafaq Oil & Gas said on Friday.
The report, translated by Shafaq News, quoted Iraqi Oil Ministry official Hamid Younis as saying that “the Baiji refinery has suffered more than 90% damage during the conflict, and we are racing against time to finish the rehabilitation work and expect to complete it before the end of next year.
The report pointed out that “the Baiji refinery, located in Salahuddin province, was producing about a third of the refining capacity in Iraq before it was severely damaged during the war with ISIS in 2014.”
“The project was launched in May, where it is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, and that the refinery will return to its pre-war production level of 120,000 barrels per day,” the report quoted Younis as saying.
According to refinery director Adnan Hammoud, the first phase of the rehabilitation project includes debris removal, while the second phase will begin this year and includes maintenance, construction and operation.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani confirmed what was reported by Shafaq News Agency regarding the recovery of equipment and devices stolen from the Baiji refinery in Salah al-Din Governorate.
“The sincere efforts helped the government recover the stolen materials and equipment from the Baiji refinery that caused it to be disabled, which are materials, equipment and articulated devices that could cost us millions of dollars and if we order it would take years to manufacture them,” Al-Sudani said.
Al-Sudani’s talk came after a government source familiar with the matter told Shafaq News on Wednesday morning that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani will announce during his current visit to Baiji district the return of stolen materials from its oil refinery.
The director of the Baiji refinery northwest of Salahud Adnan told Shafaq News that Al-Sudani returned the stolen equipment during the war with ISIS, and inspected several pilot projects to return the refinery to the regional lead.
Baiji Refinery is the largest oil purification and processing complex in Iraq established in July 1978, and produces a third of the production of Iraqi refineries.
The refinery is located in Salah al-Din province about 130 kilometers north of Baghdad, in the middle of the road leading from Baghdad to Mosul.
Its production capacity is 15 million tons per year of oil derivatives, and the refining capacity is 310,000 barrels per day, (49,000 m3/d).
ISIS took control of the Baiji refinery on June 24, 2014, but the Iraqi armed forces managed to retake the refinery from the group on October 16, 2015.
Translation: Shafaq News Agency