January 11, 2022 [IRAQI] – The Iraqi Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul-Ghani, announced on Sunday that the commercial production of the Karbala oil refinery will start in mid-March, according to a statement cited by the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

The Oil Ministry statement mentioned that Abdul-Ghani visited the Karbala oil refinery, and was briefed on samples of the products of the oil refinery, INA reported.

During his visit, Abdul-Ghani explained that he viewed samples of products developed during the trial operation of the first unit of the refinery with a capacity of 70 thousand barrels.

The Oil Minister elaborated that the products include gasoline, kerosene and diesel, and that they were meeting the required and planned specifications, INA revealed.

Abdul-Ghani indicated that mid-March 2023 has been set as a date for the beginning of commercial production with gradually increasing capacities, until the production reaches the maximum capacity, which is 140 thousand barrels per day, by the end of July.

Abdul-Ghani clarified that the refinery’s production capacity of high-octane gasoline ranges between eight and nine million liters per day, and it can be increased to 12 million liters per day.

Abdul-Ghani added that the refinery’s production will cover 75 percent of the domestic consumption, and the remaining percentage will be covered by local production after other oil refineries in Iraq are developed.

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