Iraq kicked off production at a new oil refinery on Saturday, a project that should help the hydrocarbon-rich country reduce its dependence on fuel imports, the oil minister announced.
The Kerbala refinery in central Iraq has started “commercial production” after its inauguration presided over by Prime Minister Mohamed Chia al-Soudani, Hayan Abdel Ghani said in a speech.
The complex will eventually be able to refine 140,000 barrels per day and “help meet local demand for gasoline, kerosene and heating oil, while reducing imports,” said Abdel Ghani. The project, carried out by South Korea’s Hyundai, will produce 9 million liters of fuel per day, more than half of the 15 million liters Iraq imports each day, according to the minister. Similarly, the refinery must produce 200 megawatts of electricity, “of which 60 megawatts will be allocated to the national grid,” explained Hayan Abdel Ghani.
Iraq is the second largest country in the Opec and exports an average of 3.3 million barrels of crude oil per day. With its immense hydrocarbon reserves, black gold represents more than 90% of its income. A country ravaged by decades of war and conflict, where public mismanagement and endemic corruption are slowing down reconstruction efforts and the implementation of reforms, Iraq, despite its huge oil windfall, is still waiting for major infrastructure projects to materialize.
The Kerbala refinery is “the first with such a production capacity to be built since the 1980s”, an official from the Ministry of Oil assured AFP on condition of anonymity during the first tests carried out last September.
Iraq, which already has three refineries in operation, produces half of its daily needs locally, or about 30 million liters, and imports the rest.
