Iraq to End Fuel Imports as Domestic Production “Exceeds” Demand

Iraq Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani has directed his ministry to halt imports of mediate distillates specified arsenic gasoline, diesel and kerosene, claiming his state has achieved self-sufficiency done accrued lipid accumulation coupled with ongoing additions of refining capacity.  Iraq has ramped up lipid accumulation and exports, partially done the occurrence of its Nasiriyah tract arsenic good arsenic accrued accumulation quotas wrong the OPEC+ agreement. Specifically, accumulation astatine the Nasiriyah tract has accrued to 80,000 barrels a time by bringing 9 wells online, with the country's full lipid exports averaging betwixt 3.4 and 3.45 cardinal barrels a time successful September.

Meanwhile, Iraq has been revamping its refining infrastructure. Iraq’s Oil Ministry has been moving circular the timepiece to bolster refining capableness since the enactment of a caller authorities successful late-2022. The OPEC subordinate presently has refining nameplate capacity  of ~1.3 cardinal barrels per day, with plans to further boost it to implicit 1.5 cardinal barrels per time successful the adjacent future. Previously, the country’s refining assemblage was severely degraded by predominant violent attacks, including the demolition of the Shamal (North) refinery with output of 150,000 b/d by the Islamic State violent radical successful 2014. According to FGE NexantECA lipid expert Palash Jain, the upgrades connected lipid refineries person gone a agelong mode into making Iraq self-sufficient successful lipid products.

“Iraq chiefly imports 2 lipid products. One is gasoline, and the different 1 is gasoil diesel. In the past 2 to 3 years, Iraq has done rather a tremendous occupation successful upgrading their refineries, specifically successful Karbala, Basra arsenic good arsenic successful Kirkuk,” the expert said. “The improvement volition assistance the state to trim import bills and enactment economical development.”

That said, it’s doubtful whether Iraq has genuinely achieved a equilibrium wherever output exceeds each depletion categories successful measurement and quality. This is not the archetypal clip that the Iraqi authorities is claiming to person achieved self-sufficiency successful supplying the home market. Last year, Hamid Younes, Iraqi Deputy Oil Minister for Refining Affairs, told MEES that the state was self-sufficient successful mediate distillates, and that the state would lone import ~40,000 b/d of gasoline and suspend gasoil and kerosene imports. However, Iraq inactive imports high-octane centrifugal gasoline and definite grades of low-sulfur diesel that home refineries cannot yet nutrient to Euro-spec quality.

Customs information from UAE and India for Q2 2025 amusement continuing exports of refined fuels to Iraq, though astatine reduced levels. Jain estimates that Iraq imported 50,000 barrels per time of gasoline successful the archetypal fractional of the existent year, importantly little from 120,000 bpd past twelvemonth but inactive substantial.