Iraq Crude Oil Export Facility Reconstruction Project｜Middle East
Oil and Gas Development Consulting and Engineering Company, Japan Oil Engineering

The National Revenue of Iraq is highly dependent on the income from crude oil exportation which accounts for more than 90%. Iraq’s oil sector has suffered tremendously from various war and conflicts and debilitating economic sanctions since 1980 until 2003 invasion of Iraq by coalition forces. In order to carry out the reconstruction of the financially exhausted country of Iraq, the government has received fund support and technical assistance from various international sources. Japan in particular has been one of the forefront providing the necessary fund under ODA (Official Development Assistance) Loan to Iraq. The Project is located in the northernmost district of Arabian Gulf and promoted as one of the most highly regarded project as far as the reconstruction of the country is concerned by the establishment of stable crude oil exporting facility and mechanism through the modernization of damaged and aged exporting facility.

The Project was initiated in 2005 through the request from the Iraq government and a Feasibility Study was carried out as a first step of the Project immediately thereafter. The Loan Agreement between the Japanese government and Iraqi government was signed in 2007 with the amount of Japanese Yen 50 billion which was the largest amount among the Iraqi ODA projects. JOE was nominated as a professional and international consulting firm for the implementation of Project Management Consulting (PMC) Services through the international bidding process.

Under the PMC Services, JOE has been implementing the following tasks since 2009,

- Basic engineering

- Environmental baseline survey

- Bidding support for nomination and contracting EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation) contractor

- Supervising as Employer’s representative

- Issuance of Taking-Over Certificate

The Project includes the followings,

1) Installation of 70 km length 48” diameter onshore and offshore pipeline

2) Installation of 2 Valve stations – platform structure

3) Installation of Single Point Mooring Buoy

4) Installation of Electrical facilities including 60 km offshore composite cable

5) Installation of SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition)

The Project covered the areas from the onshore shipping terminal to the offshore loading terminal. By the completion of the Project, 2 million barrel (320,000 KL) of crude oil can be loaded safely to the oil tanker through the entire pipeline system daily.

After the Iraqi War ended in 2003, the development and expansion of oil fields begun and various projects intended to provide stable offshore loading capacity of 6 million barrel (960,000 KL) daily by 2018 were implemented. But on the other hand, the existing offshore loading terminals have been poorly maintained and not operated correctly since 1980 due to the shortage of skilled personnel as well as lack of international experience and knowledge of Contract, Project Management.

Through the implementation of the Project and PMC Services, JOE has been providing the consulting services and support to the client such as up to date technical training for imparting the necessary knowledge of international contract, project management skill, consideration of incidental oil spill measures, etc. which are vital and helpful to the client in the implementation of further new projects.

Through this Project, JOE wishes that the expansion of crude oil exportation will provide the most needed revenue to Iraq to help support the reconstruction of the country immediately and properly and the increase economic activity hopefully brings stabilization to the turmoil and conflicts facing Iraq and its deserving people.