S&P Global: Kurdistan Region’s oil refined and smuggled under Kurdish officials’ supervision
S&P Global: Kurdistan Region’s oil refined and smuggled under Kurdish officials’ supervision
8-31-2024
Information/Translation..
Oil producers in the Kurdistan Region have found a new market for their crude oil, with selling prices much lower than international market prices, an S&P Global report said on Saturday.
The report, translated by Al-Maalouma Agency, stated that “sales to local traders range from $28 to $40 per barrel in a mysterious process controlled by Kurdish officials, where local refineries process the crude oil – primarily turning it into gasoline and diesel.”
“Refineries in Kurdistan have a collective production and refining capacity of 330,000 barrels per day, and hundreds of illegal refineries and small refineries process a small amount of crude,” he added. On August 4, local authorities said they had closed 138 illegal refineries and ordered dozens of unlicensed refineries to implement environmental protection requirements or face closure.
The report noted that “the pipeline is now at the center of a long political and legal battle that shows no signs of abating, and the federal government may not gain much from reopening the pipeline. In fact, the full restoration of Kurdish crude oil exports would create further challenges to OPEC+ compliance with the production ceiling.”
almaalomah.me
