Economy

Iraqi government allocates nearly $417 million to build seaborne pipeline

The Company has signed a contract with the Dutch company Royal Boskalis to build the pipeline. The pipeline has a capacity of two million barrels per day.

Kurdistan 24 2023/05/31 23:33

Flare stacks burn at the Nahr Bin Omar field, north of the southern Iraqi port of Basra, Jan. 21, 2021. (Photo: Hussein Faleh/AFP)

Iraq Basra Oil Company Royal Boskalis Pipeline Bassem Abdul Karim

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi government approved the allocation of nearly $417 million for building a third seaborne pipeline, Basra Oil Company announced on Monday.

The Company has signed a contract with the Dutch company Royal Boskalis to build the pipeline. The pipeline has a capacity of two million barrels per day.

Bassem Abdul Karim, director of the Basra Oil Company, previously told the Iraqi News Agency that the company is the first company to support more than 75 percent of the Iraqi budget.

“The company has major strategic projects for infrastructure, manufacturing, and exportation,” Abdul Karim added.

“Foreign companies operate in Basra, and other foreign companies will be licensed in the future,” he confirmed.

Crude export revenues account for a large portion of Iraq's revenue. More than 90 percent of Iraq’s gross domestic product (GDP) comes from hydrocarbon sales.

To diversify revenue sources, the Baghdad cabinet is working to develop other sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, tourism, and farming.