Iraq’s oil minister said on Monday that production at an oilfield near the northern city of Kirkuk remained suspended after an attack by IS on the weekend, Reuters has reported.
“What happened on Friday was a real threat to the oil installations, but the situation now is stable and under control,” Adel Abdel Mehdi told reporters during a visit to the oilfield.
“There is severe damage to the field which has halted production and damage also to the installations,” he said.
Black columns of smoke from pipeline networks around two oil wells were visible during the visit, according to Reuters.
It remained unclear when operations would resume as the minister said fires needed to be extinguished before assessing the damage.
Around 20 employees at Khabbaz were found and freed on Sunday after going missing during the IS attack, according to Reuters.
Khabbaz has a maximum production capacity of 15,000 barrels per day and was producing around 10,000 bpd before the attack.
