Q&A: Haidar Fakher Nasser, director of Khor al-Zubair port

KHOR AL-ZUBAIR, BASRA - The port of Khor al-Zubair, built in the 1970s as an industrial and commercial port, has been repurposed to handle the import and export of oil products to meet Iraq’s growing need for refined products, mainly gasoline and diesel.

Iraq’s refineries cannot produce enough light ends to meet domestic demand for transport fuel and the country relies on imports of 300,000 tons of gasoline and diesel per month through Khor al-Zubair, though imports have declined significantly since 2019 as new refining capacity has come online, according to Khor al-Zubair Port Director Capt. Haidar Faher Nasser, in an interview with Iraq Oil Report.