Iraq advances new unit, improvement plans at Basra refinery

Iraq is nearing the start-up of a gasoline-producing unit that will boost overall processing capacity to more than 210,000 b/d at state-owned South Refineries Co.’s 140,000-b/d refinery in Basra Province.

The 70,000-b/d unit is designed to help the country’s manufacturing sector to meet rising local need for oil-derived products, Iraq’s Minister of Oil Abdul Karim Laibi said in a Jan. 28 release from the ministry.

Commissioning of the unit comes as part of a series of projects being implemented by the oil ministry to increase processing capacity at the refinery (OGJ Online, Dec. 20, 2011), which also will include improvements to existing isomerization and naphtha units at the plant, Laibi said.

No specific timeframes were disclosed for either the unit’s start-up or future improvement projects at the refinery.