Karbala oil refinery, Iraq’s largest refining project in the past four decades, has started commercial operations.
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, confirmed that the Karbala oil refinery has a production capacity of 140,000 barrels per day and will provide 70% of Iraq’s needs for oil products, saving billions of dollars spent on imports.
During a speech he delivered during the refinery’s opening ceremony, Al-Sudani said that the refinery is a strategic project implemented for the first time since the eighties.
“We are looking forward to signing contracts with international companies to implement projects in all sectors, such as gas, petrochemicals, and refineries, both inside and outside Iraq,” Al-Sudani said.
According to a source cited by Reuters, the refinery’s commercial production would begin with an operational capacity of 60%, adding that Iraq aims to operate the refinery at full capacity by next July.