Iraqi ministry of oil and North Oil company said they have controlled the fire in Bay Hassan oil well west of Kirkuk yet its restoration takes minimum three weeks.
A source in state-run North oil company, that runs Kirkuk oil wells, told KirkukNow two oil wells were bombed on May 4th. The first one, oil well number 177 was controlled in a day and the second, well number 183, was controlled yesterday.
A policeman was killed, two injured and two oil wells exploded on May 4th, west of Kirkuk in an attack by the Islamic State IS fighters, security and oil company sources told KirkukNow.
IS militants riding motorbikes on Tuesday evening assaulted oil guard units in the village of Aziziya of Bay Hassan Oil field in the district of Dubiz, or Dibis, 35 km west of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
Media office of Iraqi oil ministry said in a statement on Sunday it has controlled the fire of Bay Hassan oil well “targeted by the terrorists.”
“The four-day fire caused a 300,000 American dollar loss as production capacity of the oil well is 5,000 barrels per day,” the source said. “Its oil product is light and used in mixture with oil of other wells, some for domestic consumption and other for export.”
Footage of fire in Bay Hassan oil well No. 183.
Since the withdrawal of Kurdish forces end of 2017 from Kirkuk, the federal government has controlled Kirkuk’s five oil fields: Havana, Bai Hassan, Khabaza, Jambor and Qubai Baba.
The oil-rich city of Kirkuk, located 238 kilometers north of Baghdad, is an ethnically mixed province of 1.2 million Kurds, Sunni and Shiite Arabs, and Turkmen. It has long been at the center of disputes between Baghdad and the Erbil.
“Renovation and restoration of those two oil wells takes at least 20 days. We have made use of the retired staff and have not used foreign companies this time,” the anonymous source added.
The disputed territories extend from Khanaqin in the east on the border with Iran to the oil rich city of Kirkuk heading to the west of Mosul in Shingal, home to Ezidi ethno-religious minority, on the border with Syria.
Currently, Kirkuk is under control of Baghdad. Kirkuk’s Joint Operations’ Command is an umbrella for local and federal police, PMF known as Hashid aal-Sha’abi and Iraqi army.
Last December, IS fighters bombed two oil wells of Khabaza oil field west of Kirkuk which cause 2.5 million loss and required more than a month for restoration.
