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OIL AND GAS
US sees no 'major disruption' to Iraqi oil supplies
by Staff Writers
Washington June 18, 2014


Iraqi military spokesman says region around oil refinery is secured
Baghdad (UPI) Jun 18, 2013 - An Iraqi military spokesman refuted claims Wednesday that an oil refinery north of the capital Baghdad was in the hands of Islamist militants.

A worker at the refinery in Baiji told The New York Times by telephone militants fighting in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria attacked the complex early Wednesday morning. Troops guarding the facility had surrendered and at least 70 of them were taken prisoner, the worker said.

A guard from a battalion patrolling the area told the newspaper by telephone he abandoned his position after ISIS rebels gained the upper hand.

Sunni extremists last week took control over parts of Iraq. The refinery in Baiji can process more than 300,000 barrels of oil and feeds refined petroleum products to 11 of the 19 provinces in Iraq.

The Times quotes Iraqi military spokesman Gen. Qassim Atta as saying the area about 130 miles north of Baghdad is "[completely] under control of our security forces."

NPR, which has reporters on the ground in Erbil, the capital of the semiautonomous Kurdish north, reported Wednesday the refinery was attacked heavily by ISIS. The report adds that it was shut down earlier this week when the ISIS siege began.

Security company Olive Group, which has contractors working in the area, said in a statement the "outlook for northern, western and central Iraq is bleak."

Washington has not seen any major disruption in Iraqi oil supplies amid a militant assault on a large refinery, a US official said Wednesday, but warned Iraq may have to import fuel for its own needs. Oil markets were spooked Wednesday as militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attacked the Baiji oil refinery, north of Baghdad, as they pressed an assault which has already seen them capture a large swath of northern Iraq. Iraqi officials said security forces controled the refinery, but clashes were ongoing and several tanks containing refined products caught fire. "The refinery produces for domestic consumption," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, adding production had already been halted for a few days "due to a combination of technical and security reasons." The refinery was shut down on Tuesday and some employees evacuated due to a drop in demand caused by the militant drive which has caused hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Analysts said a takeover of Baiji by the rebels could pressure domestic fuel supply in northern Iraq. "Iraqi authorities may need to import domestic fuel from neighboring countries," Psaki said. But "there's no impact on Iraq's crude oil exports and we haven't seen any major disruptions in oil supplies in Iraq," she added. World oil producers have cautiously watched the unfolding chaos in Iraq, which exports around 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, and said the country's vast crude supplies, mostly in the south, were safe for now. Washington was continuing to monitor "the global oil supply and demand situation," Psaki added.

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