Iraq's oil ministry plans to build new refining units at the Qayara refinery to expand its capacity to 90,000 bpd from 20.000 bpd currently. The Qayara refinery was established in 1955 and is operated by state-owned North Refineries Company. It processed heavy oil from the nearby Qayara oil fields, but sources said that the refinery is now defunct.
The Qayara oil fields resumed production of 30,000 bpd in 2018 after being recaptured from ISIS militants in 2017. The oil fields were severely damaged when the Islamist group burned some oil wells. Ahead of the output resumption, the Iraqi government outlined an investment plan for Qayara under a broader target to boost Iraq's refining capacity to 1.5 million bpd in 2022.
However, most of the projects under the scheme have failed to secure funding. The only successful one is the 140,000 bpd Karbala refinery in the south. The project has been progressed and is expected to complete by 2023. The Karbala refinery project will be wholly financed from the Iraqi budget.
