Iraqi Kurdistan
Benzene, kerosene, diesol, RCR (residual) and natural gas flow from Iraqi Kurdistan's only oil refinery. After the 1991 uprising against the Baghdad regime, Saddam Hussein refused to provide petroleum to the Kurds, so they began to develop their own small oil fields. Deprived of parts and technology, Kurdish engineers recovered the necessary elements from abandoned factories and constructed Kurdistan's only oil refinery at a disused sugar factory. Production provides 20% of Iraqi Kurdistans fuel needs. 30% comes once again from the regime and the rest is obtained through black market smuggling...Sulaimaniya, Iraqi Kurdistan. 21/11/2002...Photo © J.B. Russell
