KUWAIT CITY An oil refinery in southern Kuwait has been reopened after a 10-day halt in operations following a gas leak, Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) official said Tuesday.

"The refinery reopened on Monday," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP. He could not confirm if the refinery was back to its full capacity.

KNPC announced the closure of the Shuaiba plant, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Kuwait City, on February 8 after a gas leak was detected.

Shuaiba is one of three KNPC refineries, together with Al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah, and has an output capacity of 200,000 barrels per day.

The Shuaiba incident came close on the heels of the January 31 blast at the state-owned Kuwait oil company's Al-Rawdatain plant that killed four people and prompted the resignation of the oil minister.