By Bassem Francis, translated from Al-Hayat (Pan Arab) for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.
The Justice and Reform Movement in Nineveh has refused to build an oil refinery in a region they see as being “occupied by Kurdistan and monopolized by an affiliated company.” Meanwhile, a member who supports the project declared that those objecting to the establishment of the refinery link everything to politics, particularly given that provincial elections are imminent.
Two days ago, Nineveh’s provincial council postponed its session due to the lack of a quorum, as the Justice and Reform Movement — along with the representatives of the Shabak, Yezidis and the Islamic Party — withdrew in objection to the insertion of a law pertaining to the establishment of the oil refinery. During a press conference, the demurring parties expressed their objection to “establishing a project in a region under the occupation of Kurdistan.”
“Five months ago, the governor signed a memorandum of understanding with a company to establish an oil refinery. In a letter addressed to the council, he confirmed that this memorandum was not deemed legal until ratified, reiterating that it only tackles technical details and assured us that regardless of our aspirations, the final decision on the location was up to the Oil Ministry to make,” Sheikh Salem Arab, a member of the council, told Al-Hayat.
“We support the establishment of an oil refinery to solve the dire fuel crisis. The province will exclusively benefit from the products. This is a legal matter, for regardless of where the refinery is located, it will function under the auspices of that province. Some of the managerial bodies are cooperating again with the council, and even if the refinery is established in one of the disputed territories, why deprive the citizens of such a service?” he added.
Iraq Business News
[unable to retrieve full-text content]The State Compamy for Oil Projects (SCOP), part of the Ministry of Oil, has reportedly completed construction of 18 storage tanks at the Najaf refinery, with a total capacity of 51 million liters. The Media director of Najaf refinery, Ahmed Razg, told AIN: “The cost of the project was IQD 21 billion [$ 18 million], bringing [...]
Iraq Business News
By John Lee.
Iraq’s Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate, part of the Ministry of Oil, is preparing for a lisensing round to develop the Al-Nasiriya oil field, and to build a refinery in the area.
These will be considered as a single complete project, and qualified companies will soon be invited to tender.
(Source: Ministry of Oil)
Iraq Business News
Iraq’s State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP) will offer the construction of the Kirkuk oil refinery to international companies on a build, operate and own (BOO) basis in December 2012, according to a report from Steel Guru.
The report quotes Mr Salar Ameen, deputy chairman of the National Investment Commission (NIC) as saying that “feasibility studies are ongoing with two Italian and American advisers. The Iraqi oil ministry will make public the specifications before the end of the year. The refinery will cost approximately of USD 6 billion with a capacity of more than 150,000 barrels per day of oil“.
Mr Ameen said that companies from the US, China, Korea, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have expressed interest in bidding for the project. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.
The Kirkuk refinery project is part of the oil ministry’s plan to build several refineries across the country to meet increasing domestic demand. These refineries will have a total capacity of 740,000 barrels per day at an estimated cost, according to the report, of $ 20 billion.
(Source: Steel Guru)
(Photo: Najaf Refinery)
Iraq Business News
Delegates to CWC‘s Iraq Petroleum 2012conference in London last week received an update on the country’s refining capacity and plans from H.E.. Dr Bayazeed Hassan Abdullah, MP, member of the Oil and Energy Committee of the Iraqi Parliament.
He said the twelve existing refineries have a combined capacity of up to 886,000 barrels per day:
- Baiji [Bayji, Beiji] Refinery in Salahadin (pictured), with a capacity of 310k bpd;
- Doura Refinery in Baghdad, 210k bpd;
- Basra Refinery, 140k bpd;
- Diwaniya Refinery, 20k bpd;
- Kasak Refinery in Ninewa, 10k bpd;
- Haditha Refinery in Anbar, 16k bpd;
- Six other small refineries (Kirkuk, Syniah-Baiji, Najaf, Samawa,Nasiriyah, Maysan), with a combined capacity of between 30k and 180k bpd.
However, these plants are running at an average of 65% of design capacity, or 565k bpd, and they produce too much heavy fuel oil; only Baiji, Doura and Basrah refineries produce gasoline. As a result, Iraq continues to import refined petroleum products.
Plans for modernizing and expanding these existing refineries to produce more and better quality fuels are already underway.
In addition, four new refineries with a total capacity of 740k bpd are planned and will open for private investment:
Iraq Business News
Iraq’s Oil Minster, Abdul Kareem Luaibi [Elaibi], has opened the second unit of the Diwaniya refinery, which will produce 10,000 bpd, raising the total production to 20,000 bpd.
The year-long project cost 63 billion dinars [$ 53 million] and was carried out in cooperation with the ministry of industry & minerals.
The plant will produce:
- Naphtha: 300,000 liters per day.
- Black oil: 270,000 liters per day.
- Gas oil: 230,000 liters per day.
- Kerosene: 800,000 liters per day.
Iraq Business News
The Japanese government will provide a roughly JPY 160 billion (USD 2 billion) soft loan for a refinery project in Iraq on the condition that the core contract goes to a Japanese firm, a top-selling business daily here reported Friday.
View full post on Iraq Updates – Latest News
The Iraqi Oil Ministry has denied any changes to Karbala’s refinery, as reported by its spokesman.
Asim Jihad told Aswat al-Iraq that all agreements on Karbala’s refinery site were set with the Transport Ministry, and denied reports that the site had been changed due to its proximity to Al-Furat Airport.
Karbala’s Energy and Fuel Commission Chairman, Zuhair Samit al-Da’mi, reportedly called on the Iraqi Oil Ministry to find an alternative site due to its proximity to the airport, and suggested it be moved into the desert area in the west of the province.
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Iraq’s refineries are unable to supply the country with oil products says the Oil and Energy Committee of the Council of Representatives. The committee has called on the government to pump investment into building new refineries.
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South Refineries Co., a part of the Republic of Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, has awarded Shaw Group Inc. a contract to provide a feasibility study for the rehabilitation of its 140,000-b/d refinery in Basra. Shaw’s announcement did not disclose a contract…
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