UPDATE 4-Iraq's Baiji refinery shut after power cuts

(Updates with Electricity Ministry)

By Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A power cut forced the closure of Iraq's largest oil refinery for up to two days on Wednesday, a day after a major fire led to the shutdown of the country's second-biggest refinery.

Baiji and Shuaiba refineries supply the domestic market with gasoline, diesel, cooking gas, kerosene and other crude oil derivatives. One Iraqi oil industry official said Iraq would face "a serious problem" if they did not resume operations soon.

The Electricity Ministry blamed the Oil Ministry for the power cut, saying it had failed to provide fuel to the power station feeding Baiji refinery. It said the station would remain off-line until it received new fuel supplies.

Iraq has a chronic shortage of fuel, despite having the world's third-largest reserves of crude oil. It has been plagued by power cuts that have left some regions with less than one hour of electricity a day during a particularly cold winter.

"The refinery in Baiji stopped work at 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) when the main Baiji electricity plant stopped supplying the refinery with power," said an engineer at the refinery.

Power was restored four hours later, but an official in the refinery's media office said it would take up to two days for the plant to come back online.

Baiji refinery, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, has a capacity of more than 200,000 bpd, Iraqi officials say. It was hit by a major fire last week which destroyed its liquified petroleum gas (LPG) unit but did not affect production.