FILE PHOTO - An Iraqi flag is seen on a military vehicle at an oil field in Dibis area on the outskirts of Kirkuk, Iraq October 17, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq’s oil ministry on Monday said the nation would reduce its petroleum products imports by 25 percent as crude oil refineries are being rehabilitated following fighting with Islamic State militants. Iraq is also producing more oil products by processing natural gas liquids, Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said in a statement, without indicating a specific timeframe for the import cuts. The ministry has announced in the past few months an increase in the capacity of the Kirkuk oil refinery as well as plans to this year to rehabilitate parts of the Baiji plant, which used to be Iraq’s largest petroleum processing facility. Iraq is OPEC’s second-largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia. Its refining capacity was curtailed when Islamic State militants overran Baiji, north of Baghdad, in 2014. Iraqi forces recaptured Baiji in 2015 but it sustained heavy damage. The country now relies mainly on the Dora refinery, in Baghdad, and the southern Shuaiba plant. Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; editing by Jason Neely
Kirkuk plans to reduce petroleum imports by 25% as damage to crude oil refineries when they were recaptured from OPEC militants is repaired, the country's oil minister said. The country is producing higher volumes of oil products from processing natural gas liquids. In this year , the ministry has announced an increase in the capacity of the Kirkuk oil refinery as well as plans to recent months to rehabilitate parts of the Kirkuk plant, once Iraq ’s largest petroleum processing facility.