Samawa refinery to be reopened in June

Iraqi crews have rebuilt a 20,000 barrel per day refinery in southern Iraq that was destroyed in the Gulf War more than a decade ago, an oil ministry spokesman said yesterday.

"The Samawa refinery will be inaugurated on June 1 and help plug the shortage in domestic fuel production," Assem Jihad said.

The country's 10 refineries are operating well below their 600,000 bpd capacity due to the slow pace of repair and sabotage attacks, especially in northern Iraq.