Damaged oil refinery spouts new life
KISIK, Iraq (August 28, 2003) – A major oil refinery in Northern Iraq, looted and stripped after the war, is scheduled to resume operations and produce 200,000 liters of diesel fuel daily by Sept. 1.
In the first week of August, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery teamed with 1st Bn., 187th Infantry Regiment to supervise reconstruction efforts of the Kisik Oil Refinery. Seventy locals were hired to begin cleaning the facility while employees of Bayji Oil Company began fixing the refinery’s equipment.
A daily rate of 200,000 liters is 10 percent of the refinery’s absolute capacity, said project manager Sarhan Abbas through an interpreter. It produced at about 70 percent before the war, Abbas said.
“We will gradually produce more fuel as resources increase, we will eventually try to make 80 percent, but 100 percent is very high,” Abbas said. “We cannot do that.”
Abbas said he hopes to be producing at 70 percent on or around Oct. 1.
Currently, diesel fuel is the target product.
“Diesel is what’s really a shortage in the country, so that’s the main priority,” said Maj. Tim Sullivan, 3rd Bde. field support officer. “Kerosene is used mainly in the winter, so it’s not as important right now.”
After refinement at Kisik, oil is sent to the city of Wallea for distribution.
BOC has paid for the cost of all work on the machinery, while coalition forces have spent more than $10,000 in repairing the administrative office, firehouse, storehouse and the fence line, along with the wages of the 70 hired citizens, according to a document released by 3rd Bde.
“This marks a major step towards alleviating the fuel shortages that the people of this region have endured,” states the document. “Additionally, the repair of the refinery marks another step towards getting the country’s infrastructure on its feet so that the Iraqi people can benefit from the nation’s greatest natural resource.”