Iraq: We seek to achieve self-sufficiency in the refining industry and export its surplus abroad, 9 JUNE

 Iraq: We seek to achieve self-sufficiency in the refining industry and export its surplus abroad

6/8/2024

Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani opened, on Saturday, the Al-Azmara unit project for producing improved gasoline in the Basra Refinery with a capacity of (11) thousand barrels per day.

During his speech, Al-Sudani pointed out the importance of opening the Azmara unit in the refinery, and the provision it represents for the country’s need for high-octane gasoline, stressing that these projects will stop the process of wasting wealth and put an end to the import of petroleum products, which has continued for many years, stressing that the optimal investment for oil wealth is Gas and maximizing resources are among the top priorities of the government programme.

The Prime Minister explained that a series of measures and steps were being taken to expand the production of petroleum derivatives, stressing that the increase in filtering and refining capacities at daily rates, with every opening of a new oil unit, makes us close to achieving self-sufficiency.

He indicated the existence of a new indicator for the export of some derivatives, such as gas oil, naphtha, sulfur, and jet fuel, stressing the continuation of this program during the period of the government’s work, and that the goal is to increase production capacity and improve product specifications. He explained that gasoline production in 2022 was (15 One thousand cubic meters per day, while production today reached (24.8) thousand cubic meters per day.

The project, which was implemented by the National Effort at the South Refineries Company in cooperation with supporting companies, is considered one of the important projects in increasing the production of improved gasoline, with a production capacity of (11) thousand barrels per day, and it will contribute to reducing the quantities of imported gasoline, which will save more than 200 million dollars annually.

This project, which is considered one of the lagging projects, comes in addition to a number of projects that are being implemented, to contribute to increasing the refining capacity of petroleum products, upgrading the specifications and improving the quality, within the plans of the Ministry of Oil, and in harmony with the government program, to achieve self-sufficiency.

In turn, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani, said in his speech on this occasion, “Today we celebrate the opening and completion of the (Al-Zamra Unit) project with a capacity of eleven thousand barrels per day. This project is considered one of the important projects in increasing the production of improved gasoline fuel.” With a capacity of one thousand three hundred cubic meters per day, which is equivalent to one million three hundred thousand liters per day,” indicating that this project “contributes to reducing the import of gasoline by a rate of one thousand three hundred cubic meters per day, and saves the state treasury approximately three hundred and fifty million dollars per year.”

Abdul Ghani pointed out that “the project comes within the ministry’s plans to increase refining capacity, improve the specifications of petroleum products, and improve their quality, after the completion of the fourth refining unit project with a capacity of seventy thousand barrels per day, which entered into operation and production a short while ago,” considering that “the most important thing that distinguishes These projects came about as a result of the national effort of the Southern Refineries Company and its supporting bodies, after foreign companies hesitated to implement them.”

The Minister of Oil continued to say: “The government and the ministry have given great attention to the refining industry sector, with the aim of increasing national production to reach self-sufficiency, and gradually shifting to exporting its surplus outside Iraq.”

He noted that “the period of the year and a half of the government’s life witnessed the realization and completion of a number of projects in the refining industry sector, including the North Refinery with a capacity of one hundred and fifty thousand barrels per day, the Karbala Refinery with a capacity of one hundred and forty thousand barrels per day, and the Azmara unit in each of the Refineries Company.” The Central and North Refineries Company, in addition to what was achieved in the South Refineries with the completion of the fourth unit with a capacity of seventy thousand barrels per day.”

For his part, Undersecretary for Liquidation Affairs, Hamid Younis, said in his statement, “This project comes within the plans of the government and the ministry to maximize national production and improve its specifications.”

He stressed that the coming period will witness the announcement of the completion of a number of projects in the north, center and south that will add production capacities and enhance the plans of the government and the ministry in producing petroleum derivatives, including the cofactor cracking project, which is one of the promising projects that converts oil waste into white products with Euro 5 specifications and a refining card. Its capacity is 55 thousand barrels per day, which is implemented by the Japanese company “JGC”. All of these projects represent an important addition to the refining industry sector.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani also opened the steam boiler unit in the Basra Refinery, with a production capacity of 300 tons/hour, to supply the production expansions in the refinery’s units and facilities with the steam necessary for operation.   LINK