The 140,000 b/d greenfield Karbala refinery is providing the first significant modern addition to Iraq’s delipidated refining fleet since at least the 1980s. Nine-years after its 2014 award to a consortium led by Korea’s Hyundai Engineering (MEES, 10 January 2014), the plant began commercial operations earlier this month (MEES, 7 April).

Full capacity is targeted by July, and oil minister Hayan Abdulghani says that the $6bn refinery’s gasoline and middle distillate output will help Iraq slash its fuel import bill. Soaring prices pushed the tab up to a record $5.3bn last year. Mr Abdulghani hopes that Karbala will bring this down to just $500mn-$1bn helped in part by lower oil prices, though the net gains to Iraq will be substantially lower given that exports of crude as well as low-value naphtha are set to fall as the refinery ramps up. (CONTINUED - 996 WORDS)