Kazem Al-Touki, a member of the Parliamentary Oil, Gas, and Natural Resources Committee, examined the main challenges facing local refineries as they attempt to become self-sufficient in the manufacture of gasoline fuel today, Sunday.
Al-Touki stated, “The Ministry of Oil is forced to import foreign fuel in order to meet the need because the production capacity of Iraqi refineries regarding gasoline fuel is insufficient to cover the local need.”
He continued, “The Baiji refinery entered service a short time ago and cannot be relied upon at the present time to secure the country’s need for fuel, in addition to the Karbala refinery that has not reached its actual production capacity, and there are also problems in the Doura refinery, in addition to the pipeline transporting oil from the strategic line.” He was unable to provide the Doura and Karbala refineries with what they truly needed.
He said, “The government is determined to secure fuel by 80 percent next June, and it may be able to achieve self-sufficiency in gasoline fuel by the end of this year, especially since there is ongoing work to raise and increase the refining capacity of the refineries and solve the obstacles that stand in the way of increasing production.”
