“We want to tell the Iraqi people that there is an all-out war against the country’s oil infrastructure,” Ghadban told reporters as he toured the capital’s Dura refinery, which came under mortar fire last week.

Ghadban estimated lost export revenue from sabotage at about eight billion dollars since the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, which sits on the world’s second largest reserves of crude oil.

“Exports are now limited only to the south, there are no exports in the north, “ he added. Oil exports from southern terminals in Basra are averaging 1.8 million barrels per day.

Osama bin Laden ordered his supporters to sabotage oil facilities in Iraq and the Gulf, in an audiotape attributed to the Al-Qaeda leader broadcast on an Islamist website last month.

“Take jihad (holy war) to stop (the Americans) getting hold of (the oil). Concentrate your operations on the oil, in particular in Iraq and the Gulf,” said the voice on the tape.

Ghadban has warned that sabotage is to blame for fuel shortages that continue to plague the country despite its oil wealth, sometimes forcing people to wait a whole day to fill up their vehicles.

But power supply is also affected with most sections of Baghdad plunged in darkness almost every night and residents having to rely on generators.

The Dura refinery provides fuel for Baghdad’s main power plant, which supplies electricity for most of the capital and outlying areas.