The China Petroleum Pipeline (CPP) company is said to be close to winning a $650-million contract to build a pipeline linking the southern oilfields in Maysan province to the al-Fao [al Faw] storage depots.
The chief of state-run Maysan Oil Company, Ali Maarij, told Reuters, that the line will expand the export capacity from the oilfields of Maysan and Halfaya, and other small fields. “It will definitely remove all exports constrictions“, he added.
The 300-km (186-mile) 42-inch export pipeline should be operational at the start of 2014, facilitating a planned increase in output from the current 230,000 bpd to around 400,000 bpd.
It will replace an existing outdated 28-inch pipeline currently shipping crude from the southern fields in Ammara to storage facilities near the city of Basra.
