.- Militants attacked and caused the closure of Iraq's largest refinery on Saturday, killing four workers after placing a series of bombs that started a fire, officials said. The rebels planted the bombs in the production units of kerosene and benzene in the refinery in the town of Baiji, a former al Qaeda stronghold about 180 kilometers north of Baghdad, said Ahmed al-Jubouri governor.
"The refinery has been shut down completely," the governor told Reuters. "It'sa great loss for the country. All Iraqi cities depend on their production," he said. Oil Minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi said the "terrorist attack" just hit a production unit which was under maintenance and the remaining units were not damaged.
"(...) The attack is part of a terrorist plot aimed at oil installations in Iraq and seeks to undermine the Ministry of Oil after it had succeeded in providing sufficient oil products to meet domestic needs," he told a statement read to Reuters. The explosions, which occurred before dawn, started a fire that was later controlled, a police source said.
It took about five hours and 50 fire trucks to contain the flames. The damaged unit, known as the Northern Refinery has a capacity of 150 thousand barrels per day, said an official of Baiji, adding that the destruction was too extensive to be repaired within days. "Repairing the damage will take a long time.
We're not talking about days, the damage is very severe," said the official. "With a little luck we can restart the refinery in part," he said, adding that the plant has sufficient reserves to meet domestic energy needs for at least seven days. Iraq does not export any oil product and uses all its production to generate electricity for local consumption.
Overall violence in Iraq has declined sharply since the peak reached during the sectarian conflict in 2006-2007, but attacks still occur daily. The Baiji refinery was long controlled by militiamen, who used it to finance their insurgency. Normally the plant operates at 70 percent of its capacity and produces 11 million liters of petrol, seven million liters of benzene and 4.5 million liters of kerosene per day. 
"The refinery has been shut down completely," the governor told Reuters. "It'sa great loss for the country. All Iraqi cities depend on their production," he said. Oil Minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi said the "terrorist attack" just hit a production unit which was under maintenance and the remaining units were not damaged.
"(...) The attack is part of a terrorist plot aimed at oil installations in Iraq and seeks to undermine the Ministry of Oil after it had succeeded in providing sufficient oil products to meet domestic needs," he told a statement read to Reuters. The explosions, which occurred before dawn, started a fire that was later controlled, a police source said.
It took about five hours and 50 fire trucks to contain the flames. The damaged unit, known as the Northern Refinery has a capacity of 150 thousand barrels per day, said an official of Baiji, adding that the destruction was too extensive to be repaired within days. "Repairing the damage will take a long time.
We're not talking about days, the damage is very severe," said the official. "With a little luck we can restart the refinery in part," he said, adding that the plant has sufficient reserves to meet domestic energy needs for at least seven days. Iraq does not export any oil product and uses all its production to generate electricity for local consumption.
Overall violence in Iraq has declined sharply since the peak reached during the sectarian conflict in 2006-2007, but attacks still occur daily. The Baiji refinery was long controlled by militiamen, who used it to finance their insurgency. Normally the plant operates at 70 percent of its capacity and produces 11 million liters of petrol, seven million liters of benzene and 4.5 million liters of kerosene per day.
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