Iraq refining sector makes incremental gains

Iraq has doubled its oil production capacity in the last decade to become the second-largest producer and exporter in OPEC, but the country has failed to realize most of its plans for a similarly dramatic expansion of refining capacity.

The result is that current yields of refined products from existing refineries do not match demand for the light end of the barrel, forcing the government to import about 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline and 20,000 bpd of diesel, according to Oil Ministry data. Iraq spent a total of $3.3 billion on refined product imports in 2021, according to data from the state oil marketing company (SOMO), and its import bill for the first quarter of 2022 was $1.55 billion.