Page 11 - DMEA Week 38 2021

DMEA REFINING DMEA

Deal signed for Qayarah refinery

MIDDLE EAST IRAQ’S state-owned North Refineries Co. Hamid Younis said: “The ministry [is keen] to
(NRC) this week signed a preliminary agree- accelerate the development of the refinery sec-
ment with Swedish firm SEAB and Limak tor in Iraq by building modern refineries and
Holding of Turkey for investment to construct a introducing new units for the current refineries.”
70,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery at Qayarah He added that the country would experience a
near Mosul. “qualitative increase in the production of oil
The parties said that the heads of agreement derivatives”
(HoA) provides a “roadmap for an investment This coincided with comments from Oil
contract” for the development of the facility. The Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar, who said during a
value of the project has not yet been disclosed, visit to the project site of a 140,000 bpd refinery
with the companies due to submit their techni- at Karbala that the unit would play an important
cal and financial scoping for the development by role “in providing high-quality oil products, and
December. covering a large part of the local needs.”
Bids were previously invited in 2018 for the Abdul Jabbar also said earlier this year that
development of a 100,000 bpd facility in the city the government plans to cut its gasoline import
around 80 km south of Mosul, though follow- bill by up to 50% by the end of the year as part of
ing an extension to the deadline because of weak a wider plan to end imports of the fuel by 2023,
interest the scheme faded into obscurity. backed by new and upgrade projects in the refin-
NRC general manager Qassem Abdul Rah- ing sector.
man said that the new facility would use “com- According to data compiled by Downstream
plex and advanced techniques to treat heavy MEA (DMEA), Iraq currently has a serviceable
oil [from the nearby Qayarah oilfield] and nameplate refining capacity of around 750,000
turn it into white products [that meet] Euro V bpd, though utilisation rates are believed to run
specifications”. significantly lower.
Qayarah is home to a 10,000 bpd unit that will Baghdad has plans to roughly double this,
no longer be operational. though at least 10 projects have been announced,
Meanwhile, director-general of the Ministry including Qayarah, that would add around
of Oil’s Department of Studies, Planning and 1.1mn bpd of capacity.
Follow-up, Nasir Aziz, said that the project “rep- Project watchers will be aware that there
resents a quantum leap and an important addi- are likely to be further delays with these pro-
tion to the refining sector [as it] adopts clean, jects, though with the latest announcement and
sustainable and environmentally friendly energy recent progress in rehabilitating existing facilities
standards”. and adding new units elsewhere in the country,
In early September, Deputy Oil Minister momentum is building.™

Week 38 23•September•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11