Call your local office / GSA: 
Basra, home of Sinbad the Sailor and a proposed location of the Garden of Eden, is the second largest city in Iraq after the capital, Baghdad. Iraq is OPEC’s second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, with an output capacity of 4.8 million bpd. Five of the major oil fields, including two “supergiant” fields (each containing at least 5 billion barrels in reserve) are within easy reach of Basra.
Basra is home to Iraq’s only ports, with Umm Qasr being the main deep-water port. Umm Qasr is often affected by congestion with long truck waiting and average clearance times (and more recently, violent protests), hence, airfreight can be critical for time-sensitive oil and gas shipments.
The Basra Oil Company is the government-owned company which develops Iraq’s oil reserves in joint ventures with international partners. Please see the table below for information on the fields around Basra and the international oil companies involved.
| Name | Recoverable reserves | Developers |
|---|---|---|
| West Qurna | 43 billion barrels | |
| Phase I | ExxonMobil (32.7%) Petrochina (32.7%) Pertamina (10%) Itochu (19.6%) Oil Exploration Company (10%) | |
| Phase II | Lukoil (75%) North Oil Company (25%) | |
| Majnoon | 38 billion barrels | Basra Oil Company (45%) Petrona (30%) Missan Oil Company (25%) |
| Rumaila | BP (47.6%) PetroChina (46.4%) State Oil Marketing Organisation (6%) | |
| As Zubair | Eni (32.81%) Missan Oil Company (25%) South Oil Company (23.44%) Korea Gas Corporation (18.75%) | |
| Halfaya | PetroChina (37.5%) South Oil Company (25%) Total SA (18.75%) Petronas (18.75%) | |
| Garraf | 1.3 billion barrels | Petronas Carigali Iraq Holding (45%) Japex (30%) North Oil Company (25%) |
Iraq is also focusing on downstream capability as the demand for refined products is growing. In January 2014, a $6bn contract to construct a modern refinery in Karbala was awarded to a South Korean joint venture consisting of Hyundai Engineering & Construction (E&C), GS E&C, SK E&C and Hyundai Engineering.
More recently in November 2019, the Iraqi Ministry of Oil announced that it will select a number of international investment companies to build five new refineries around the country:
| Location | Capability |
|---|---|
| Kirkuk | 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) |
| Wasit | 140,000 bpd |
| Nasiriyah | 140,000 bpd |
| Basra | 140,000 bpd |
| Al-Faw | 300,000 bpd |
(Source: Asharq Al-Awsat)
Contact your local representative today to find out how Coyne can help with your cargo to Basra, on our scheduled and charter / part-charter services.
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