Page 5 - MEOG Week 16 2022

MEOG COMMENTARY MEOG

forms part of the MoO’s framework for increas- and there are obstacles standing in front of it, we
ing crude outlets and is perhaps the most likely will clarify these before the Council of Ministers
of the tabled projects. and Parliament.”
“The ministry also planned to establish an oil
pipeline with Syria that would reach the Med- Khor Al-Amaya exports
iterranean, but the situation there prevented While uncertainty about the future of Bas-
that, and there are also problems obstructing the ra-Aqaba looks likely to continue, an MoO affil-
work of the Iraqi-Turkish oil pipeline, which is iate expressed optimism that facilities at the port
currently used illegally, unfortunately,” he said. of al-Amaya in Basra could resume operations
He added though that the House of Repre- by the end of the year, ahead of exports restarting
sentatives has raised “questions about the eco- a year later.
nomic feasibility of the project and whether Iraq Ahmed Fadel Dhaim, assistant director-gen-
needs a new outlet for oil exports”. eral for plans and budgets at the Basra Oil Co.,
said: “There is no problem in the al-Amaya port
Representative rejection and it is ready to work, but the defect in it lies in
The following day, representatives of Basra Gov- the transporting and exporting pipeline,” noting
ernorate said they had ‘categorically rejected’ the that a company is working to locate the fault and
framework for the pipeline, citing “injustice and repair it.
prejudice” towards the southern region. He added: “If it becomes clear that it is pos-
Speaking to Iraq’s Al-Sabah national daily, sible to benefit from the pipeline, it will be com-
House of Representatives member Intisar Has- pletely repaired as a second stage,” noting “the
san Al-Moussawi said that Basra representatives return of work in the port will be at the end of
had held an emergency meeting, in which they this year 2022.”
took a unified position, representing “a complete Dhaim said that the contract to complete a
rejection of the Basra-Aqaba project under the third pipeline is ongoing and “the pipeline may
caretaker government”. enter work at the end of 2023”. BOC said in
Meanwhile, former advisor to the Interna- March that marine pipelines to offshore loading
tional Crisis Management at the United Nations, moorings are part of efforts to increase crude
Dr. Nabil Ahmed Al-Amir raised questions export capacity from the southern ports from
about the costs and returns associated with the 3.5mn bpd to 6mn bpd by 2026.
project, noting that the Ministry of Finance’s Dhaim said that the project would include the
Sector Planning Department has “reserva- laying of two 48-inch (1,066-mm) pipelines as
tions about the [risk-based] engineering, pro- well as the construction and installation of new
curement, construction and finance (EPCF) single-point mooring (SPM) facilities, noting
contracts”. that BOC is preparing a tender worth around
Al-Amir also expressed concerns about the $1bn that will be opened up to international
pipeline route, noting that it runs through Wadi companies.
Houran, in which gangs affiliated with ISIS still Oil exports from KAAOT have been shut in
operate, while suggesting that the final stretch of since leakages occurred in 2017, caused by rup-
the line’s proximity to Israel is asking for trouble. tures in the line.
He also appeared to question the appropriate- In December, BOC deputy manager Ahmed
ness of involving Burj Al-Hayat Co. in the devel- Fadhil said that a Russian company had been
opment of the Jordanian section, given that its awarded a deal to assess and carry out repairs on
owner had previously been suspended by the the 42-inch underwater pipe that feeds the off-
Integrity Commission. shore SPMs. When operations resume, the ter-
Meanwhile, as politicking ramps up and ten- minal is anticipated to operate at around 400,000
sions heighten, it appears increasingly obvious bpd, down from its 600,000 bpd capacity prior to
that the current caretaker administration and its going offline.
ministries have their hands largely tied and are The 6mn bpd figure appears unlikely, but it
becoming ‘non grata’ as blocs disassociate them- accords broadly with Baghdad’s intention of
selves and form new allegiances. raising oil production capacity from the current
Abdul Jabbar and the MoO have sought to 5mn bpd to 8mn bpd by 2027, though this num-
present an apolitical front, and he concluded: ber too is likely to be influenced by the make-up
“if [the pipeline project] meets the requirements of the incoming government when it is eventu-
and benefit of the ministry, it will proceed. If not ally appointed.™

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