Iraq refinery sustains damage from rocket attack

Dec. 11, 2007
Iraq's Doura refinery burst into flames Dec. 10 after being hit by a rocket, according to an Oil Ministry official.

Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 11 -- Iraq's Doura refinery burst into flames Dec. 10 after being hit by a rocket, according to an Oil Ministry official.

Spokesman Asim Jihad said a Katyusha rocket hit a fuel storage tank at the 110,000-b/d refinery at about 6:00 a.m., starting a fire that sent a large plume of black smoke into the sky.

He said there were no casualties and the refinery's firefighters expected to extinguish the fire quickly. He did not report what effect the attack had on the refinery's output.

The facility, just outside Baghdad, refines crude oil from the north and south of the country to supply products to the Iraqi capital.

Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].