Iraq has allocated ID1.26tr ($973mn) to finance building the Sealine-4 (SL-4) and Sealine-5 (SL-5) offshore pipelines aimed at boosting export capacity from its southern oil terminals. MEES understands that the funds, allocated by the country’s council of ministers on 26 September, will be used to issue letters of credit to the benefit of state-owned Basrah Oil Company (BOC) when tendering for the project. The funds have been allocated by the government as part of the Ministry of Oil’s investment plan for 2023 and the letters will be issued by the Trade Bank of Iraq.
This follow’s July’s re-award of a $416.9mn contract to Dutch maritime services provider Boskalis to build the long-delayed Sealine-3 (SL-3) offshore pipeline (MEES, 14 July). The 48” pipeline will have a nameplate capacity of 2mn b/d, although pumping station constraints will likely restrict initial flows, and construction is planned to take 400 days. The new pipeline will be key to unlocking idle export capacity, relieving some of the infrastructure constraints at Iraq’s Gulf terminals (MEES, 1 September). (CONTINUED - 227 WORDS)