Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Travel News .




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.

.


Related Links
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News





OIL AND GAS
Two idled oil fields in Libya again sending oil to Brega refinery
Tripoli, Libya (UPI) Jun 16, 2013
Two Libyan oil fields resumed deliveries to a key refinery in the country following a court order on political stability, two state energy companies said. State-owned National Oil. Co. said production resumed at the southern El-Feel field. Authorities at Sirte Oil confirmed oil was flowing from the Zilten oil field in the east of the country, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. ... read more


OIL AND GAS
Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket to undergo final testing

Lie detector exposes sabotage of Proton-M booster

Move fast on rocket choice, Europe space chief says

SpaceX sues USAF, citing unfair contractor monopoly

OIL AND GAS
US Congress and Obama administration face obstacles in Mars 2030 project

Opportunity Recovering From Flash Memory Problems

Rover Corrects its Spacecraft Clock

NASA could not deliver humans to Mars

OIL AND GAS
55-year old dark side of the moon mystery solved

New evidence supporting moon formation via collision of 2 planets

NASA Missions Let Scientists See Moon's Dancing Tide From Orbit

Earth's gravitational pull stretches moon surface

OIL AND GAS
Assessing Pluto from Afar

Dwarf planet 'Biden' identified in an unlikely region of our solar system

OIL AND GAS
Kepler space telescope ready to start new hunt for exoplanets

Astronomers Confounded By Massive Rocky World

Two planets orbit nearby ancient star

First light for SPHERE exoplanet imager

OIL AND GAS
Why We Need Rocket Engines

NASA again delays flying saucer test

Orion Ready To Feel The Heat

Airbus's SpacePlane demonstrator tested in South China Sea

OIL AND GAS
Chinese lunar rover alive but weak

China's Jade Rabbit moon rover 'alive but struggling'

Chinese space team survives on worm diet for 105 days

Moon rover Yutu comes closer to public

OIL AND GAS
Giant Telescopes Pair Up to Image Near-Earth Asteroid

NASA Instruments on Rosetta Start Comet Science

Asteroid Discovered by NASA to Pass Earth Safely

Massive Beast asteroid to have close call with Earth




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.