Parliamentary committee advocates for urgent upgrades to prevent potential oil export declines
Shafaq News/ Iraq’s Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee convened on Tuesday to discuss the urgent rehabilitation of oil pipelines with representatives of the Federal Ministry of Oil and the Basra Oil Company, a move aimed at forestalling a potential shortfall of two million barrels daily in oil output.
Chaired by Committee Rapporteur Heybat al-Halbousi, high-ranking delegates including the Deputy Oil Minister for extraction affairs, the General Director of the Basra Oil Company, and chief officials from the economic and planning departments gathered to address the rehabilitation of the critical infrastructure in the Basra province.
This assembly highlighted the need upgrade the aging pipeline network, some segments of which have been in operation for over 50 years, alongside enhancements to marine pipelines instituted in 2011.
"We have obtained approval from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani for the financial allocations needed for the revitalization of the pipelines," Al-Halbousi confirmed in a statement to Shafaq News Agency.
Albeit funded by a Japanese loan integrated into the national budget, the project faces delays, with the Finance Ministry yet to release the designated funds. The financial stipulations crucially include allocations for a third maritime pipeline, envisioned to significantly improve the daily oil export volume.
Addressing the attendant representatives, al-Halbousi expressed the committee's resolution to mandate the Finance Ministry to expedite the release of the critical funds for pipeline rehabilitation and the commissioning of the Khor al-Amaya port, projecting an increased yield by 500,000 barrels per day.
The lawmaker Haibat al-Halboosi. asserted the grave economic implications of potential pipeline failures, cautioning against a calamitous daily decline of two million barrels in Iraq’s oil production, a scenario that would severely impinge on the country's revenue streams heavily reliant on oil exports.
