Iraq announces reopening of refinery damaged by Islamic State

Iraq’s prime minister announced Friday the reopening of the Beiji refinery, the country’s largest, which had been shut down for a decade after being damaged in the battle against the Islamic State extremist group.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement that the refinery’s return to operation will enable Iraq to meet its oil derivative needs internally, saving billions of dollars annually, which he said “will be invested in other services and aspects of the economy.”

“Iraq, with its production of more than 4 million barrels per day, is still importing oil derivatives,” al-Sudani said. With the reopening of Beiji, he added, “We are close to securing the country’s entire needs for derivatives, no later than the middle of the year.”

The oil refinery in Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, has not operated since the IS seized the town as part of its blitz across much of Iraq in the summer of 2014. The facility, which previously had production capacity of more than 300,000 barrels a day, was heavily damaged in the fighting that ensued as Iraqi forces battled to retake control of the strategic site.