Iraq has restarted limited production at the Baiji refinery, 180 kilometres north of Baghdad on 4 March after provisional repair works on the plant following an attack a week earlier.

Oil Minister Abdulkarim al-Luiabi said his ministry has managed to repair the North unit of the refinery, restoring its 150,000 barrel-a-day (b/d) production capacity, Aswat al-Iraq news agency reports.

The Al-Shamal unit of the Baiji refinery was shut down after a pre-dawn raid and bomb attack by militants on 26 February on Saturday, which ended with four workers killed and causing a fire at the refinery (MEED 27:2:11).  

The refinery, built in 1982 had been operating at about 70 per cent of its 310,000 b/d capacity before the attack. Iraq currently has three major refineries, with a combined design capacity of 700,000 barrels a day (b/d), but actual production is closer to 500,000 b/d. Basra refinery has a capacity of 150,000 b/d refinery and the Daura refinery in south Baghdad has a capacity of 110,000 b/d.