DMEA: Oil begins flowing to Iraq’s Karbala refinery

Iraq’s Oil Ministry announced on September 25 that the Karbala refinery had begun receiving feedstock in preparation for trial production. Oil is now flowing to the 140,000 barrel per day (bpd) plant through a pipeline that originates in southern Iraq, in fields near Basra, the ministry noted in a statement.

Iraqi specialists are building the refinery at a site about 110 km south of Baghdad. Construction is not 100%, but gasoline-producing units are already in place, including a poly-naphtha unit and a fluid catalytic cracker. The poly-naphtha unit is capable of producing gasoline with 90- and 95-octane levels.

The plant is Iraq’s first new oil refinery in decades. It is slated to serve the domestic fuel market, turning out gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, LPG, residual fuel oil and asphalt that comply with European emissions standards. When it reaches full capacity, its production will allow Iraq to reduce petroleum product imports by approximately 60%.