Can Iraq finally become an international center for the petrochemical industries?

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[size=52]Can Iraq finally become an international center for the petrochemical industries?[/size]

[size=45]Translated by / Hamed Ahmed[/size]
[size=45]A report by the American website Oil Price, concerned with energy affairs, discussed the potential that Iraq possesses in terms of oil and gas reserves to become an international center for the petrochemical industries, especially with the presence of movements to reach a final formula to activate the giant Nebras complex project for the manufacture of oil derivatives in Basra, the implementation of which has been delayed since the signing of the contract with Shell International Oil Company in 2015.[/size]
[size=45]The report prepared by the international expert, Simon Watkins, concerned with energy affairs and commercial consulting, stated that there is no fundamental reason preventing Iraq from becoming an international producer of high-value oil derivatives, taking into account the oil and gas wealth it possesses, which will have additional economic returns. In addition to investing in the large quantities of gas that are now being burned and converted into a useful commodity, he pointed out that there have been plans to achieve this goal for several years, particularly represented in the Nebras Petrochemical Industries Complex project.[/size]
[size=45]Based on comments issued by the Ministry of Oil, discussions took place last week to approve a “final formula” for establishing this long-delayed complex, and “the need to expedite the development of plans to implement this project” was emphasized.[/size]
[size=45]The project dates back to June 2015, when Shell signed the original deal to build and implement the Nebras Petrochemical Industries Complex project in Basra, the cost of its construction at the time was estimated at $11 billion, because it had signed the original memorandum of understanding on this subject in the year 2012. At that time, hopes were high on both sides. Regarding the future of the Nebras complex, the Minister of Industry at the time, Nasser Al-Issawi, said during a press conference that the complex would enter the production stage within five to six years and would make the country the largest producer of petrochemical industries in the Middle East.[/size]
[size=45]The design plans for the Nebras complex were intended for a project with a production capacity of at least 1.8 million metric tons per year of various petrochemical products. This will make it the first largest petrochemical project in Iraq since the beginning of the nineties and one of four similar major complexes in the country. The other complexes are Khor Al-Zubair in the south, Al-Musayyab near Baghdad, and the Baiji refinery complex in the north, all of which are managed by the General Company for Petrochemical Industries. In June 2015, Shell stated at the time that the Iraqi Council of Ministers had given authorization to begin implementing the Nebras project, and stated that it “will work in partnership with the Ministries of Oil and Transport to develop a joint investment model for a global petrochemical factory and an oil derivatives complex in southern Iraq.” While the Nebras project remained stalled in the years following 2015, a senior source in the oil industry sector working closely with the Ministry of Oil told the Oil Price news website at the time exclusively that Shell faced two major problems in moving forward with the implementation of the project. The first problem was logistical, after the British company withdrew from its work in the Majnoon and West Qurna 1 oil fields. The second problem is a moral problem related to the extent of the possibility of applying the commission rate in Iraqi oil contracts.[/size]
[size=45]The source said that although the cost specified in the contract is $11 billion, the amount of additional commission, according to Shell’s calculation, is between another $3 to $4 billion. Due to the failure to agree on this commission, the source says, Shell has become in a position in which it has not done the simplest things towards moving forward with the Nebras project.[/size]
[size=45]The international expert, Watkins, states that this is what prompted the Iraqi Ministry of Oil to search for another company to cooperate in the project with Shell. During the later stage of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, the Ministry approached several companies about the possibility of partnering with Shell, and among the major companies in the petrochemical industries were SABIC, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation. The source said, “This is what will allow Shell to find someone to share with it in bearing the costs of the project, but this matter was ignored after Saudi Aramco began considering the possibility of purchasing SABIC shares, and then another date was set in the year 2021.”[/size]
[size=45]The Russian source said at the time that the ethane associated with the associated gas is the main feeder for the new Iraqi complex for petrochemical products in Nebras, as it is used in the Saudi city of Jubail for petrochemical products. Iraq possesses high rates of associated gas, and its manufacture will be one of the components of Iraq’s progress in producing these oil derivatives, noting that the estimated costs for an integrated project containing all the requirements and equipment for a world-class complex for petrochemical products in Iraq may require a budget in the range of 40 to 50 billion dollars.[/size]
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