February 20, 2015 [Bloomberg] - Iraq expanded its crude-storage capacity to 10.5 million barrels as OPEC’s second-largest producer tries to overcome export bottlenecks in the south that are curbing output, said Deputy Oil Minister Fayyad Al-Nima.
The Middle Eastern country added three new tanks with combined storage capacity of 1 million barrels of crude oil, Al-Nima said in a phone interview Thursday. The nation plans to boost capacity to 15 million barrels by the end of the year and to 30 million barrels in five years, he said.
“Our storage capacity is low compared to our output,” Al-Nima said. “When there is rough weather for about five days, the tanks become full and we then have a problem.”
Iraq, which pumps the most oil in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia, is rebuilding its energy industry after decades of wars and sanctions. The nation produced 3.3 million barrels a day on average last year, the highest since 1979, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It exported about half that amount from southern Iraq so far this month as bad weather disrupted shipments, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg and port agent reports.
Bad weather in the Persian Gulf halted loading onto tankers at the Basra Oil Terminal for three to four days since December, Al-Nima said. Works are under way to install two new offshore-export facilities each with a capacity of 850,000 barrels a day by the end of the year, he said. Iraq currently operates two export facilities of this type.
