FILE - A view of a damaged production unit after a bomb attack by militants at Baiji oil refinery, 180 kilometers north of Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 26, 2011.
VIENNA —
Iraq's biggest oil refinery at Beiji remained under government control on Thursday, secured by Iraqi special forces, as Sunni rebels staged an offensive through northern Iraq, Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi said.
Luaibi said Iraq was not importing any additional fuel and that stored supplies of gasoline and diesel were good.
The country's crude oil exports from its southern terminal at Basra were running at an average 2.6-2.7 million barrels per day as of Wednesday, he said.
Militants from an al-Qaida splinter group, who seized Iraq's second biggest city of Mosul this week, advanced into the oil refinery town of Beiji on Wednesday, setting the courthouse and police station on fire.
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“Beiji refinery is totally secured by the special forces and operating normally now,” an official at the refinery said on Thursday.
Security officials said additional special forces troops were sent to secure energy installations in Beiji on Wednesday, including the refinery and nearby major power stations, which supply power to cities including Baghdad.
Developments in Iraq
1/8This image from video posted by Iraqi0Revolution, a group supporting ISIL, shows a militant standing in front of a burning Iraqi Army Humvee in Tikrit, Iraq, June 11, 2014.
2/8This image made from video posted by Iraqi0Revolution, a group supporting ISIL, shows militants at the Al-Sharqat base north of Tikrit, Iraq, June 11, 2014.
3/8Kurdish police stand guard while refugees from Mosul head to the self-ruled northern Kurdish region outside Irbil, Iraq, June 11, 2014.
4/8A refugee from Mosul stands outside her family's tent at Khazir refugee camp outside Irbil, Iraq, June 11, 2014.
5/8Iraqi security forces head to Baghdad on the main road between Baghdad and Mosul, a day after fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant took control of much of Mosul, Iraq, June 11, 2014.
6/8Iraqi security forces leave a military base as Kurdish forces take over control in Kirkuk, Iraq, June 11, 2014.
7/8A burnt vehicle belonging to Iraqi security forces is seen on a road one day after insurgents seized control of the city of Mosul, June 10, 2014.
8/8Damaged vehicles belonging to Iraqi security forces are seen during clashes between Iraqi security forces and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in Mosul, Iraq, June 10, 2014.
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