Kalak Refinery
The project is located in Kawrogosk sub-district in Kalaki District (40 km west of Erbil). It occupies an area of 2.5 km2 on the eastern side of Upper Zab river.
The Project consists of three phases:
– Phase 1 – (capacity = 40,000 barrels/day).
– Phase 2 – (capacity = 60,000 barrels/day).
– Phase 3 – (capacity = 75,000 barrels/day).
This refinery refines the oil supplied from the Khormala field through a 40-km long pipe (20-inch). This refinery is the
first and newest type of refineries in the Kurdistan Region, which was constructed through several consecutive stages:
FIRST STAGE:
This stage includes Refinery which is composed of two units for oil refining with a capacity of 10,000 barrels/day per each, and special units for kerosene sweetening.
A construction contract was signed in 2005 between the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and the Ministry of Industry & Minerals. It was supposed to be ratified in 2006. However, there was a delay due to financial, technical, and other issues. Therefore, no more than 60% progress was achieved by the end of 2008. By then, the contract was halted by the Kurdistan Regional Government, and the remaining stages of the project were assigned to the KAR Company for Constructions & Contraing because of its acknowledged prowess in investment.
A limited period was given to complete the project. The project was completed in the specified timeframe, and opetions began in the mid-2009s, which was seen as a great achievement at that time. The refinery was operated by 100% local staff who were appointed, trained, and qualified to operate the production units and technical supporting units (such as maintenance, labs, quality control, safety, firefighting, and engineering testing, in addition to management departments).
The commercial production started the first unit in the station in July 2009, directly followed by commercial production in the second unit.
This refinery is considered the first investment project in the oil sector which to be erected, operated and managed by a
private company (the KAR Company) in the whole of Iraq.
THE MAIN PRODUCTS OF THIS REFINERY:
Naphtha, kerosene, diesel, and heavy fuel oil are stored in the depots. These products are supplied through tankers, or they are pumped through pipelines to the Erbil oil depot on demand. The total storage capacity of refinery depots is ten times higher than the production capacity of the refinery.
REFINERY 2:
The operation of Refinery 1 coincided with the operation of Refery 2, as the Company management team was planning to duplicate the production capacity in the first stage. This led to adding Refinery 2 (with a capacity of 20,000 barrels/day), to complementary units for converting the naphtha produced by Refinery 1 and Refinery 2 to improve gasoline (octane 92). This refinery includes other units like Naphtha Hydrogenation Unit (capacity 9000 barrels/day), Gasoline Improvement Unit (capacity 40,000 barrels/day), Light Isomerization Unit (capacity 2,500 barrels/- day), and Liquid Gas Extraction Unit (capacity 40 tons/- day). It also includes a depot for storing oil products, technical service facilities, and generators (capacity 8 to 8.5 megawatts).
Besides that, there is an electricity power source from the national grid. To implement the plan, a contract was signed at the end of 2009 between KAR Company and the US Ventech Company to develop the design, manufacture of equipment, and the construction the refinery. The refinery was finally operated in September 2011 by the technicians of the refinery with the support of several inte national cadres.