Policy incentives by the Basra governorate have increased the supply of electricity in the region to over 2,000 MW – the highest level achieved anywhere in conflict-ridden Iraq, according to Ali Fares, chairman of the Oil & Gas Committee of Basra Council.
“This number has not been reached by any of the other governorates in Iraq because of the weak distribution lines. Basra has the privilege of power supplies that reach 20 hours in most of its districts,” he pointed out.
Moreover, the local government set out a contingency plan and allocated 95 billion Iraqi dinars ($0.08bn) to buy equipment to help meet the needs of the power sector. The Council of Ministers approved this plan which is the first of its kind to be executed by a local government in Iraq.
Stepping up gas production
As for future gas exports, Fares stressed that Basra Gas Company invested in utilising associated gas to reduce flaring; hence production of gas liquids have now reached a level that meets the region’s daily requirements.
Basra Gas Company also began exporting liquid gas and gas condensate c5. “Six shipments of gas condensates were exported, pushing the total export amount to 105,500 cubic meters.
“As for liquid gas, the daily production has reached 5000 tonnes, while the total requirement of the country stands between 4,000 and 4,500 tonnes per day,” he said, outlining that Basra Gas Company so far assigned 10,000 tonnes for export and exported four shipments with a total of 7,100 tonnes.
Securing loan for Basra refinery
Eager to rehabilitate the Basra Oil Refinery, Iraq’s oil ministry managed to arrange a $2.1 billion loan from Japan. The loan is the basis for several important projects, including e hydrogenation of gasoil with the capacity of 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) as well as a cracking unit using GCC.
The objective of these projects, according to Fares, is to “increase daily production capacity of Basra refinery to 4500 tonnes of premium benzene, 27,000 barrels of fuel oil, 40,000 barrels of hydrogenated gasoil, which is to be produced for the first time in Iraq as per the global standards, and 500 tonnes of liquid gas.”