Iraq: Produces and grows first major new oil refinery built in decades
The new Karbala refinery, south of Baghdad, is expected to reach full capacity of 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) by July this year, a source inside the plant told Reuters on Tuesday. An important step in the modernization of the country and in the reconstruction of its industrial system.
The Karbala refinery, estimated to cost just over $6 billion, is expected to begin commercial fuel production in mid-March, Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani said over the weekend. According to the source who spoke to Reuters, the start of production will see the refinery conduct trials at 60% capacity.
Karbala, Iraq's first new refinery in decades, is designed to produce gasoline, LPG, jet fuel, diesel, heating oil and asphalt. According to Argus, the fuels produced by the plant will help Iraq reduce imports of refined products by about 60%.
The new refinery is not expected to affect Iraq's crude exports, as OPEC's second largest producer could ramp up its oil output or cut processing rates at other refineries, the source told Reuters.
Iraqi exports from the southern port of Basra averaged 3.24 million bpd in December, according to data from state-owned operator SOMO consulted by Reuters.
Iraq, OPEC's second largest producer after Saudi Arabia, is projected to bring in more than $115 billion in oil revenues in 2023, according to data released last week by the country's oil ministry. This figure comes from crude oil exports of 1.209 billion barrels last year, or an average of 3.320 million bpd.
As OPEC's second largest crude producer, with production of 4.5 million bpd in the third quarter, Iraq depends on oil revenues for nearly all of its exports.
Iraq's oil revenues fell to just $42 billion in 2020, according to Al-Monitor, as the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia collided with the onset of the pandemic, sending crude prices tumbling. . In 2021, Iraq's oil revenue rebounded to $75.6 billion before reaching a record $115 billion in 2022.
Iraq is the fifth country in the world for proven oil reserves, with 145 billion barrels.
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new articles from Economic Scenarios.
The article Iraq: Produces and grows first major new oil refinery built in decades is from Scenari Economics .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/iraq-produce-e-cresce-la-prima-grande-nuova-raffineria-di-petrolio-costruita-in-decenni/ on Wed, 11 Jan 2023 10:00:02 +0000.