Page 16 - MEOG Week 32 2021

MEOG
NEWS IN BRIEF
MEOG
this is not sufficient even for the first phase of the port, whose cost is estimated at $6 to $7 billion, if we take into consideration the rail link which is supposed to connect to the port to Turkey and Europe.”
Political parties with powerful armed militias have competed for contracts for Al Faw’s support operations.
“These major projects always seem to attract demands for greasing palms. The culture of corruption is so thorough that it seems to overwhelm everything,” said Kirk Sowell, publisher of the Inside Iraqi Politics newsletter.
The project cannot be faulted for lack of ambition. Once complete, if all goes according to plan, it will transport cargo to Europe overland in less time than it takes to ship it through the Suez Canal. But if the rail project stumbles, it would call into question the need for such a large port.
A UK government-commissioned study conducted in 2005, when the port was in the concept stage, said the projected cargo volume for the port was based on container handling
rising from “120,000 TEU [standard shipping containers] in 2005 to 6.4 million TEU in 2055, a little less than the UK at present”.
Iraq’s economic growth would have to almost catch up with that of Britain’s in the same period, an unlikely prospect, for almost all of its income is derived from oil exports.
Some argue the development is unnecessary. An article in Port Strategy last year noted that the port of Umm Qasr, only 60km from Al Faw, “has ample existing additional capacity and plenty of space for further berths and yards being constructed (and can be upgraded to handle the world’s largest vessels by dredging its channel for a fraction of the cost of Al Faw dredging)”.
This raises the question of why Iraq is so committed to channelling funds to the new port.
As Mr Sowell notes, large projects in
the country provide ample opportunity for political parties and connected security forces to make money.
THE NATIONAL
Topside installed at Forouzan
The Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) has installed the QB Topside of Forouzan offshore oil field weighing 152 tons on the QA floor of this platform.
According to IOOC, the operation was successfully carried out on Monday (August 9); earlier in mid-July, the 160-ton QA topside was located on the Cellar and Main floors.
Thus, with the completion of these two operations and the planning of the roof and heli floors on the complex, construction of the FYA platform with a total weight of 1,300 tons will be completed by late September.
Completion of the construction and installation of the FYA residential platform with a capacity to accommodate 70 people will help solve the problem of housing the operational staff of the Forouzan joint oil field. SHANA
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Week 32 11•August•2021