Dora Oil Refinery Resumes its Work in Baghdad

On Tuesday morning, the only oil refinery in Baghdad - Dora, resumed its work. The enterprise, guarded by the US troops, is run by Iraqi and Kuwaiti specialists.

The plant was out of operation for over a week after a powerful explosion nearby. About 5 days ago Baghdad gas stations ran out of petrol. Cars are now running on the gas, reserved by the previous authorities for the possible war. Shortly before the war broke out, cisterns with petrol had been buried in various districts of the Iraqi capital. By now, the cisterns have been "appropriated" by individuals and the petrol is sold at 5 US cents per litre. The gas is also sold or sometimes distributed freely from stolen gas trucks. For instance, yesterday the Baghdad district of Mustanseriya witnessed a fuel truck labelled with a hand-written poster that read, "In the name of Imam Al-Kazim /one of the Shiites' saints/ petrol is distributed free of charge".

Despite the recent growth of the traffic in the streets of Baghdad, there are still few cars and many districts look deserted. Traffic lights are out of order, due to the electricity shortage.

The electricity supply in the Iraqi capital is expected to be resumed in five days. This will also improve the situation with water supply. At present, the water is supplied under a very low pressure.