#Iraq's oil ministry announced today the "start of trial operations" at the 140,000 bpd Karbala refinery- considered part of Iraq's refinery upgrade plans to address product imbalance & improve product yields. (Photo circulated by the oil ministry) #OOTT . More below:
2) Iraq will most likely continue to remain a net importer of gasoline and gasoil through 2030, some have noted.
3) Other refineries have undergone some upgrades. For example, in 2021, the oil ministry announced the addition of an isomerization unit and a reforming unit at the old Daura refinery with a capacity of 10,000 bpd to convert naphtha to higher-value gasoline blendstock.
4) Some argue that Daura should have been decommissioned by now. If interested in reading about the history of #Iraq's refining sector, below is a two-part series on Iraq’s Daura oil refinery since the 1950s, which I published last month. #OOTTchokepoint.substack.com/p/if-the-daura…
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Thread on #Iran-#Lebanon energy talks through history, and recent reports about Iranian fuel oil "donation" to Lebanon for power plants (which require different oil products of different specs), with a focus on what Beirut-based Al Akhbar newspaper said earlier today:
1)Lebanese-Iranian energy talks date back to at least 2000. That year, Tehran offered to upgrade Lebanon's power plants&refineries amid talks of "resuming" crude oil flows from Iraq's Kirkuk to the Med. This did not happen, and talks remained talks.
2)In October 2010, #Iran offered to assist Lebanon in addressing chronic electricity shortages,& oil & gas exploration when former energy minister Gebran Bassil went to Tehran on an official visit. Later that month, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Beirut.
#Lebanon: My new work for @amwajmedia on the current disorder in Lebanon’s energy sector: what triggered it, immediate solution to allow discharge of more fuel ships- ready to be offloaded- &Hezbollah’s narrative of need for Iranian oil in light of this: bit.ly/3mgifTI
I focus 1) on the abdication of a govt body that has long presented itself as a "market regulator", & the distribution+ sales problems compounded by the state's short-sighted fiscal policies, causing delays in unloading oil tankers that have continuously called on #Lebanon.
2)Given the popular anger with the energy crisis, Hezbollah has found a way to create a narrative for its support base that justifies the need for Iran’s oil. It has also succeeded in presenting itself as a party with solutions- regardless of their impact on the national level.
#Lebanon: Guess it’s time for a thread on Lebanon’s energy imports sector due to some misinformation.
1)Oil tankers in general have never stopped calling on Lebanon. Tankers laden with fuel oil ( for power generation), gasoil/diesel, gasoline, and LPG (cooking gas). Lebanon is not under "siege" as some continue to say without offering solid data.
2)The problem is the financial crisis that has made it difficult to pay for oil imports whether those for power generation ( EDL) for example or the private sector (gasoline). But some tankers are waiting more than others. Some are offloading in a short period.
On Lebanon's civil society: I have noticed that a number of observers are trying to understand the #LebanonProtests. The protests are not magic.They’re product of years of work:The work of Lebanon's civil society that needs to be acknowledged. #لبنان_يثور#لبنان__ينتفض#Beirut
1)Many remember the protests in 2015 that were covered by international media- now since that year, activists managed to achieve successes in some areas for first time, challenging the existing political system they're fighting. I will focus on elections in 2017/18:
2) In 2017, civil society won in the Beirut Order of Engineers polls. Jad Tabet, backed by Beirut Madinati coalition was able to beat a candidate supported by traditional parties. That was a major victory for civil society. Read here: dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-N…