Iraq is confident that ongoing upgrading work to the Basra refinery will boost federal refining capacity by more than 10% by the end of 2018. Iraq’s oil ministry announced on 4 April that a fourth 70,000 b/d crude distillation unit at the refinery is due online by end-2018, taking the plant’s capacity to 280,000 b/d.

MEES calculates that Iraq’s nameplate refining capacity currently stands at 600,000 b/d but that given the decrepit nature of much of the infrastructure it can rarely reach such levels (MEES, 16 February). (CONTINUED - 559 WORDS)