Iraq's largest oil refinery shut by bombing

Reuters ^ | Sat Feb 26, 2011 | Sabah al-Bazee

[Eyes Unclouded]

Iraq's largest oil refinery was shut down on Saturday after militants carried out a bomb attack and set it on fire, the governor of Salahuddin province said.

The militants killed four people and planted bombs at production units for kerosene and benzene at the refinery in the town of Baiji, a former al Qaeda stronghold about 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, Governor Ahmed al-Jubouri said.

"There is a big fire in the refinery and the refinery has completely stopped," Jubouri told Reuters.

Overall violence in Iraq has dropped sharply since the peak of sectarian conflict in 2006-07, but attacks still occur on a daily basis.

The Baiji refinery was controlled for a long time by al Qaeda militants, who used it to finance the insurgency.

[no dems]

Well, let’s see: Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Bahrain, Indonesia, Libya and now this in Iraq. I look for gas to be $5.00 per gallon by Summer, if not before.

[PGR88]

Funny how we don’t hear a word about Iraq now that Obummer is Prez

[apoliticalone]

This oil / gas refining is a unique gig. It is the only business I know of where one could bomb one of their own facilities and come out of it making more profits because the price of product went up.

This invasion, hunting down Saddam, freeing his people, and getting paid by their oil might have occurred on its own had we waited 10 years and we would have saved a couple trillion and many GIs.