Iraq Refining Revamp Gathers Pace, But New Capacity Some Time Away

22 Dec 2017 Issue: 60 / 51,52

Iraq is undertaking much-needed work on war-damaged refineries, including the flagship Baiji plant. However, delays at the greenfield Karbala project suggest revamps will provide the only capacity boost to 2021.

Iraq’s North Refineries Company (NRC) is tendering for equipment including electric motors, pumps and compressors, to be used in the rehabilitation of two units of the Baiji refinery in the northwestern Salahuddin province. Minister of Oil Jabbar al-Luaibi said in September that NRC staff had begun “working day and night” on Baiji’s Salahuddin-1 unit as well as the small Sainia and Kasak plants.

Baiji was Iraq’s largest refinery, with 310,000 b/d crude processing capacity, before it was damaged in fighting between Iraqi forces and Islamic State (IS) jihadists in June 2014. NRC is now rebuilding the Salahuddin-1 and -2 units at Baiji, which before IS overran the site each had capacity to process 70,000 b/d of crude. The refinery’s third unit, Baiji North, had 170,000 b/d capacity. (CONTINUED - 867 WORDS)