<article><p class="lead">Iraq's oil ministry plans to build new refining units at its 20,000 b/d Qayara refinery in the north of the country, which will lift its total capacity to 90,000 b/d.</p><p>The project was announced today during an inspection of the aged refinery by oil minister Ihsan Ismael who was on a tour of Iraq's northern facilities at both Qayara and Baiji. Few details on the new project have been released by the oil ministry.</p><p>The existing 20,000 b/d Qayara refinery was built in 1955 south of Mosul and is operated by state-owned North Refineries Company. It processed heavy oil from the nearby Qayara oil field, but is no longer operating, one source said.</p><p>Baghdad has previously launched an investment plan for Qayara, seeking interest in the construction and operation of a new 100,000 b/d refinery in 2018. That was shortly before the resumption of oil production from the Qayara oil field at around 30,000 b/d. The field had been recaptured from Islamist group Isis in 2017 but had been badly damaged after the militants set a number of oil wells on fire. </p><p>The 100,000 b/d project was among a raft of new schemes launched by various oil ministers to <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/1718694">boost Iraq's refining capacity</a> to 1.5mn b/d by 2022, from around 875,000 b/d currently. The country has for many years struggled to produce enough oil products to meet growing domestic demand. </p><p>But most of the new refinery schemes have failed to secure investment. Only one project, the 140,000 b/d <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2135422">Karbala refinery</a> in the south, has progressed and that will be funded entirely from the Iraqi budget. The oil ministry hopes to complete construction by 2023.</p><p class="bylines">By Adal Mirza</p></article>
