Iraqi downstream dreams edge closer to reality
Dinar Daily :: DINAR/IRAQ -- NEWS -- GURUS and DISCUSSIONS :: IRAQ and DINAR -- ARTICLE BASED INFORMATION and DISCUSSIONS
Page 1 of 1
Iraqi downstream dreams edge closer to reality
Refining and petrochemicals development may finally be gathering momentum
Baghdad has developed an unenviable reputation for a gulf between downstream promises and reality. For some 13 years, successive governments have announced—and often re-announced—an array of greenfield refining projects, yet only a single new facility is under construction.
Even that is running more than five years behind schedule. In petchems, majors expressed interest as far back as the early years of last decade, before domestic consumption took priority over feedstock in allocating scarce gas supplies International investors have been unwilling—due to a combination of persistent political instability and oil prices that have never fully recovered from their 2014 slump—to make the multi-billion-dollar capex commitments required. Successive governments have also been unable to finance schemes.
So there is understandable scepticism about recent Iraqi oil ministry announcements—notably without putative foreign partner corroboration—that Italy’s Eni had agreed to a 300,000bl/d greenfield refinery at Basra province’s giant Zubair oilfield, and that Shell had resumed discussions on the same area’s eight-year-old Nebras petchems project.
Oil minister Ihsan Ismael said in early September that a c.$4bn 150,000bl/d Zubair first phase could be onstream by 2025. Before his June drafting into the newly formed government, Ismael was head of state-owned Basrah Oil Company, which owns just under a third of the Zubair concession, so he has relevant experience of the field’s potential development plans.
But, given the Italian firm’s silence thus far and its intentions to slash capex, prospects for imminent progress appear slim. And Baghdad has form for yet-to-fly southern Iraqi refining projects; plans for a 300,000bl/d plant at the Al-Nasiriyah oilfield in neighbouring Dhi Qar province have re-emerged in various forms since 2012, while two Chinese parastatals agreed to develop a similar-size facility on Basra’s Al-Faw peninsula in 2018.
But this summer did see progress on long-standing plans to upgrade an existing 210,000bl/d refinery near Basra City. Japanese engineering firm JGC signed a $3.8bn contract to install several new units—including Iraq’s first fluid catalytic cracker.
Crucially, the project is being part-funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency— which may spare it some of the financing problems that have dogged the 140,000bl/d Karbala refinery, the sole newbuild under construction. Karbala’s completion—by a South Korean consortium under a 2014 contract—is now tentatively scheduled for 2022.
Rehabilitation
Repairs are also slowly but surely progressing at the Baiji refining complex—once the country’s largest but left in ruins by the mid-decade depredations of Islamic State—in northern Salahuddin province. A second 70,000bl/d unit is due back onstream by year-end, according to the oil ministry. Rehabilitation work has also started at the badly damaged 170,000bl/d main plant.Iraq’s refining capacity stands at c.760,000bl/d, according to Opec statistics, narrowly exceeding consumption. But shortages persist in key products, forcing the state treasury to resort to expensive imports. Domestic fuel supply remains the authorities’ overriding downstream priority.
Power generation fuels are also a key concern for an administration aware that anti-government protests sparked by blackouts pre-date by some time the unrest that toppled the prime minister last year.
Gas-for-power will thus remain the prime motivation for the Shell-led Basrah Gas Company, which has a mandate to process otherwise flared gas from the Rumaila, West Qurna 1 and Zubair oilfields and which, as of last year, is producing more than 1bn ft³/d (28.3mn m³/d). But Shell agreed in 2012 to conduct a feasibility study on a proposed 1.8mn t/yr Nebras ethane cracker and derivatives complex in the oil-rich southern province, signing a heads of agreement develop the plant three years later.
Little had been heard of the project until late August, when the oil ministry declared the scheme a priority and pledged contractual and legal agreements by year-end. The government promises to guarantee ethane feedstock availability throughout the plant’s life.
Shell has, again, said nothing. But ethane may now be available in sufficient volumes to support the project, while the prospect of the new administration ushering in greater political stability has at least not yet been dashed.
Chevron, Total and Russia’s Lukoil are among other heavy hitters to have previously recognised Iraq’s world-scale petchems potential. And, as with elsewhere in the region, downstream projects offer value-added exports, a more diversified economy and jobs for a potentially restive populace. Now might finally be the time when the downstream stars align to fulfil some of those promises.
https://www.petroleum-economist.com/articles/midstream-downstream/refining-marketing/2020/iraqi-downstream-dreams-edge-closer-to-reality
GirlBye- VIP NewsHound
- Posts : 1481
Join date : 2018-07-09
Location : So Cal
claud39 likes this post

» Iraqi forces take northern edge of IS-held town
» Iraqi judiciary responds strongly to Abadi: You will not achieve your dreams of delusional return to the ephemeral position
» Washington is pressing for the disengagement of Iraq from Iran .. And an Iraqi official: We are walking on the edge of the knife
» Iraqi forces secured the southern edge of the Islamic State group stronghold of Fallujah on Sunday
» The End of OPEC is closer to reality --OPEC vs SHALE
» Iraqi judiciary responds strongly to Abadi: You will not achieve your dreams of delusional return to the ephemeral position
» Washington is pressing for the disengagement of Iraq from Iran .. And an Iraqi official: We are walking on the edge of the knife
» Iraqi forces secured the southern edge of the Islamic State group stronghold of Fallujah on Sunday
» The End of OPEC is closer to reality --OPEC vs SHALE
Dinar Daily :: DINAR/IRAQ -- NEWS -- GURUS and DISCUSSIONS :: IRAQ and DINAR -- ARTICLE BASED INFORMATION and DISCUSSIONS
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
» Textbook Tony
» Angela Hitler gathers lieutenants in Germany to mourn loss of Fourth Reich
» 10 years of the new notes came out!
» The Association of Brokerage Companies: Changing the dollar exchange rate contributed to raising the value of Iraqi shares
» Iran: Exports to Iraq amounted to $9.5 billion
» Al-Hakim calls for choosing the next prime minister within specific criteria
» What does Iraq look in a post-Sadr era?
» Sadrist leading figure to the Coordination Framework: the fire you made will burn everyone
» Iraqi parliament swears in new members to replace Sadrists
» USD/IQD closes slightly lower in Baghdad
» Norway offers US$ 7.5 million to Iraq
» Asia's thirst for cheap Russian oil hits Opec's No 2 producer Iraq
» Iraq’s exposure to US securities was up to about $28 billion in April
» The Central Bank: We have taken effective measures to protect the banking sector and combat money laundering
» Al Qirtas Islamic Bank - The first use of modern systems from DN SeriesTM ATMs in Iraq
» The Central Bank of Iraq: We launched 17 trillion dinars of development initiatives
» Central: The Letter of Guarantee platform issued more than 30,000 letters, worth 9.3 trillion
» The Governor of the Central Bank discusses obstacles to the work of Islamic banks with the International Rating Agency
» The Central Bank of Iraq decides to sell the dollar to pilgrims at the official exchange rate
» The central bank is moving at a steady pace to support and revitalize the economy
» The central electronic platform for letters of guarantee enhances confidence in banking transactions
» Who's on First?
» Frank26 says - From black list removal to high credit ratings for Iraq. This is how you get a new exchange rate
» Becky McGee/Oootah - "Wanted: Attorney and/or Lawyer!" 3/10/19
» Meta 1 Coin Has Crack Team Of Lawyers? Why Is Dave Schmidt Still Rotting In Jail?
» California pot shops prepare for their first day of legal recreational marijuana sales TODAY
» One Crazy Guy
» CBI sells $1+ billion in forex for second week in a row
» Iraq and the World Bank hold a workshop to develop public debt management
» Combating financial crimes enhances confidence in the banking sector
» Forex-US dollar notches in Baghdad
» USD/IQD closes lower in Baghdad
» What Happens when Cancer is treated with Cannabis? VIDEO
» VIDEO: Viral Hydroxychloroquine Doctor Demands Joe Biden Apologize After Media Finally Acknowledges HCQ Works
» USD/IQD closes slightly higher in Baghdad
» CBI sold +3$ billion in forex in May
» Finance agrees with the World Bank to help Iraq by activating the General Authority for Taxes
» Central Bank Governor: The Iraqi banking sector is witnessing development and openness to the outside
» The Central Bank prevents Visa and Master card holders from giving them to any party