The Iraqi government has inaugurated the 140 kb/d Karbala oil refinery, located near Karbala in southern Iraq, about 110 km south of Baghdad. The refinery, which began trial operations in September 2022, includes 33 operational, service, and storage units, as well as a station for pumping oil products to external depots and gas filling stations. The refinery also includes a 200 MW power plant, 60 MW of which will contribute to Iraq’s national grid.
According to the Iraqi Government, the refinery, which is the first in Iraq to operate with modern technologies, is expected to provide 60% to 70% of Iraq's oil product needs and produce 9 million liters of gasoline, 4 million liters of kerosene, 750 tons of liquid gas, 1,000 tons of asphalt, and 360 tons of solid sulfur per day.
The US$6bn refinery, which was developed by ATCONZ and Invest International (Italy), will be supplied with crude oil via a pipeline from the southern oil fields in Basra. Construction started in 2014. Prior to the completion of the Karbala refinery, Iraq had 16 refineries, for a total nominal capacity of 1 mb/d. The main refineries are Baiji (140 kb/d, extended from 70 kb/d in 2021), Basra (140 kb/d), Daura (expanded to 210 kb/d in 2011), and Kalak (expanded to 100 kb/d in 2011).
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