New refining unit opened in South Refineries Company

Basra, December 23 — Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani inaugurated the fourth refining unit at the South Refineries Company’s site in Shuaiba, located in Basra. This new unit significantly boosts Iraq’s oil refining capabilities, with a production capacity of 70,000 barrels of fuel oil and 167 tons of liquid gas daily. It also includes a 28-kilometer pipeline network to integrate this new unit with the existing company pipelines in Basra.

Minister Abdul Ghani, emphasized the importance of this new unit, describing it as a “gift to the entire noble Iraqi people and to the generous province of Basra.” He recounted the project’s challenging phases, including initial contracts starting from mid-2015 with the Czech company Techno Export, which specializes in constructing multi-energy transport refineries. However, due to the Czech company’s inability to complete this crucial unit over the years, the project was transferred to the Belgian company Yousha, specializing in electronic control work. South Refineries Company played a pivotal role in overcoming all obstacles.

The new unit specializes in producing white products (naphthalene, gas oil, and liquid gas). Minister Ghani expressed confidence that Iraq will achieve self-sufficiency in liquid gas by the second quarter of 2024.

Hebat Al-Halbusi, the Head of the Parliamentary Oil and Energy Committee, expressed pride in this accomplishment, adding significant resources to the state. He highlighted the irony of Iraq, one of the largest OPEC+ members in the region, having to import gas from neighboring countries. Al-Halbusi noted that with this unit operational and the upcoming activation of the North Refinery in the following month, Iraq will no longer need to import gas, potentially saving up to 5 billion dollars annually lost in gas imports.