Page 6 - MEOG Week 25 2021

MEOG COMMENTARY MEOG

Iraq hails refining

progress, talks up plans

Iraq has announced the completion of several projects to improve
and expand refining processes in the country, but these are a

drop in the ocean compared to its wider downstream aspirations.

IRAQ IRAQ this week announced the partial reha- providing job opportunities”. This would save the
bilitation of the Salah al-Din refinery and com- country around $2bn per year.
pletion of projects to increase fuel output as the Meanwhile, he said that the MoO was under-
WHAT: Ministry of Oil (MoO) talks up ambitious plans taking more “ambitious” projects to add up to
Iraq’s North and Midland to reduce imports. 1mn litres per day of gasoline to Daura’s capacity,
refining companies this During a visit to the Daura refinery, 20km which will grow to 4mn lpd.
week completed projects south-west of Baghdad, Oil Minister Ihsan The refinery has a nameplate throughput
that will increase fuel Abdul Jabbar spoke of intentions to cut the gov- capacity of 180,000 barrels per day, though it
availability and aid the ernment’s gasoline import bill by up to 50% by is understood to have been running closer to
state in reducing its fuel the end of the year as part of a wider plan to end 140,000 bpd.
import bill. imports of the fuel by 2023, backed by new and
upgrade projects in the refining sector. Salah al-Din
WHY: His comments came as the state-owned Mid- A few days before Abdul Jabbar’s visit to Daura,
Despite being home to land Refineries Co. announced the completion North Refineries Co. (NRC) announced that it
OPEC’s second highest oil of three projects at Daura that will increase the had completed rehabilitation work at the two
production, Iraq remains projection of higher-octane gasoline and light refining units at the Sala al-Din complex.
reliant on imports to derivatives. Speaking to the official Iraqi News Agency
satisfy demand for (INA), NRC director-general Qassem Abdul
refined products, gas and Daura Rahman Hussein said that the company had
electricity. During his visit, Abdul Jabbar was shown the completed several projects, “including the
refinery’s new isomerisation unit, a new hydro- reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Salah
WHAT NEXT: gen plant and tanks for storing light derivatives. al-Din 1 refinery with a capacity of 70,000 bpd
Iraq plans to more He said that the isomerisation unit would with all its production units, which include the
than double its refining increase production of improved-quality gaso- atmospheric distillation unit, the hydrogenation
capacity to around line, with the hydrogen facility to contribute to unit of light distillates and the gasoline improve-
2.2mn bpd, but history the production of light derivatives, including ment unit”.
tells us that these large higher-grade gasoline. He added that the company had also com-
expansion projects are Abdul Jabbar added that MRC’s new projects pleted the “reconstruction and rehabilitation”
unlikely to be realised would “reduce the import value of oil deriva- of the Salah El-Din 2 refinery, which also has a
in full. tives by 90% by the end of 2022, in addition to 70,000 bpd capacity.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 25 23•June•2021