Iraqi Oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi announced that Iraq has added a processing unit to the Kirkuk oil refinery, increasing the plant's capacity by 10,000 barrels per day. The oil ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that the unit is operational.
The ministry will seek to add another unit by the end of the year, with the same 10,000 bpd capacity, he added.
Al-Luaibi said in a message sent to the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, "The ministry has reached a great achievement amid security and economic challenges, as the new unit of Kirkuk oil refinery would increase its capacity to 40,000 barrels per day, which contributes to cover a large part of the citizens' needs of petroleum products, especially kerosene and gas, as well as meet the needs of industrial projects in the government and private sector."
"The ministry is seeking to add another refining unit to Kirkuk refinery with a capacity of 10,000 barrels per day before the end of this year."
The minister had announced last February the oil refining project in Erbil governorate with a capacity of 40,000 barrels per day.