BAGHDAD, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi police Sunday opened fire to disperse protestors in the oil hub of Basra in southern Iraq, leaving a demonstrator killed and three others wounded, a local security source said.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered on a highway at the entrance of oil fields in West Qurna-2, some 80 km north of the city of Basra, to protest unemployment and demanded jobs from the oil companies, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The police officers guarding oil facilities opened fire in the air to disperse the protestors, but some protestors used their hands pushing the guards before one of the guards opened fire on the protestors, the source said.

The incident prompted the Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji to launch an investigation into the incident, which fuelled anger among Iraqi people.

Russia's Lukoil is developing the West Qurna-2 oilfield, and the U.S. Exxon Mobil oil firm operates West Qurna-1 oilfield.

Basra, some 550 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, is the main oil hub for oil exports of Iraq, the economy of which relies on oil for over 90 percent of its revenues.