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Fire hits Erbil oil refinery, cause under investigation
Shafaq News/ On Sunday, a fire erupted at an oil refinery in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, a local source reported.
“The incident occurred in a storage tank at a refinery located along the Erbil-Gwer road,” the source told Shafaq News. “Civil defense teams were immediately dispatched to the scene and are working to contain the flames.”
Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the fire or assessed the full extent of the damages.
Notably, in June 2024, a similar fire erupted at the Erbil-Gwer refinery, affecting its asphalt storage facility. That fire required over 12 hours and 35 civil defense teams to extinguish. While no fatalities occurred, 14 individuals, including firefighters, sustained injuries, with material losses exceeding $5 million.
On Friday, a recently rehabilitated tank at Rumaila oil field caught fire just one day after resuming operations.
Workers were safely evacuated, but significant operational disruptions ensued, with 60 wells halted and an estimated loss of 135,000 barrels of oil. The number of affected wells later rose to 120, bringing total losses to 200,000 barrels.