Iraq’s deputy oil minister Hamed al-Zobai said that the country is on track to expand its refining capacity by about a third as an effort to reduce imports of fuels. Iraq plans to expand refining capacity to 830,000 bpd by the first quarter of 2022 from its current 640,000 bpd. The expansion also includes improving the quality of processed products, al-Zobai added. Iraq’s refineries are mostly old or were damaged amid war with ISIS militants in 2013-2017. As a result, OPEC’s second-largest producer imports more gasoline and gasoil.
Iraq plans to revamp the Baiji refining complex north of Baghdad. The complex has three refineries, with only one with a capacity of 70,000 bpd currently operating. A second refining unit with a similar capacity is expected to start operation by the end of 2020. Meanwhile, a third 140,000 bpd refinery is scheduled to come online in the next two years. The complex was severely damaged amid war with ISIS militants. When all the three refineries are operational, Baiji will again become Iraq’s largest refining complex.
Japan’s JGC Corporation won a $4 billion contract to upgrade the 210,000 bpd Basrah refinery. According to the company, the revamp will include installing a diesel desulfurization unit, a fluid catalytic cracking unit, and a vacuum distillation unit among others. The work will last for about four years, starting from 2021. After the expansion, Basrah refinery can produce 36,000 bpd of gasoline, compared to its current capacity of 19,000 bpd.
The oil ministry also expects to start a new 140,000 bpd refinery in Karbala between January and March of 2022. It also plans to establish a new 70,000 bpd facility in Qayara. Al-Zobai said that these projects would be financed from the ministry’s existing budgets. The ministry is also seeking foreign investors for refining projects in Zubair and Fao in the southern part of the country.
