Karbala refinery nears completion

KARBALA - The long-delayed Karbala refinery is scheduled to start coming online in September, allowing Iraq to produce millions of liters per day of high-quality light oil products to meet growing domestic demand for gasoline – although the precise timeline is uncertain due to unresolved questions over financing the final stages of the project.

The refinery will begin by processing 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) of medium and light crude oil this fall and likely ramp up to its full capacity of 140,000 bpd by 2023, according to refinery director Hayder Shareef Mohammed, who spoke with Iraq Oil Report during a site visit earlier this month.