Iraq Strategic Pipeline

This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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Iraq Strategic Pipeline,خط الأنابيب الاستراتيجي البديل, is three parallel operating oil pipelines running from Basra to Al Anbar in Iraq.

Location

The pipeline runs from the Basra to Haditha in Al Anbar, Iraq.

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Project details

Pipeline 1

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• Operator: Saipem & Snam(Italy), State Company for Oil Projects(SCOP)
• Owner: Iraq Ministry of Oil
• Parent Company: Iraq Ministry of Oil
• Capacity: 1.4 million bpd
• Length: 669 km
• Diameter: 42 inches
• Status: Operating
• Start Year: 1975
• Cost: $237 million
• Financing:
• Associated infrastructure:

Pipeline 2

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• Operator: Basra Oil Company
• Owner: Iraq Ministry of Oil
• Parent Company: Iraq Ministry of Oil
• Capacity: 1.4 million bpd
• Length: 194 Kilometers
• Diameter: 42 inches
• Status: Operating
• Start Year: 1988
• Cost:
• Financing:
• Associated infrastructure:

Pipeline 3

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• Operator: Basra Oil Company
• Owner: Iraq Ministry of Oil
• Parent Company: Iraq Ministry of Oil
• Capacity: 800.000 bpd
• Length: 669 Kilometers
• Diameter: 42 inches
• Status: Operating
• Start Year: 2020
• Cost:
• Financing:
• Associated infrastructure:

Background

The Strategic Pipeline consists of three parallel pipelines running North from the from Basra to Al Anbar in Iraq. Though the pipeline was originally planned to carry upwards of 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd), it suffered damage both in the Gulf War and again during the 2003 invasion by the United States, severely reducing its capacity. In 2012, the capacity was reportedly 50,000 bpd and was used strictly for domestic purposes. The second pipeline was built in 1988 parallel to some parts of the first one with 194km length only.

The third pipeline's 800,000-bpd capacity is split: 400,000 barrels go to electric plants and oil terminals, and the other 400,000 barrels will feed an oil terminal and refinery. About 450km of this pipeline was built in 2014 and remaining length was completed in 2020.

The original vision of the Strategic Pipeline project never came to fruition. By 1980 to 1981, major terminals on the narrow portion of Iraq's coastline were destroyed in the Iran-Iraq war, largely nullifying the pipeline's intended function. In addition to the damage that it sustained in the Iran-Iraq war, the pipeline was further damaged in the Gulf War, further reducing its capacity. In 2003, The K-3 pumping station in Haditha was destroyed along with four other southern pumping stations. In addition to the destruction, the pipeline needs major modernization. Thus, the pipeline has been of little significance since its inception and has remained unidirectional, with only one pipeline functioning. The line transports crude oil south from Central and Southern Iraq to tank farms at Zubair, Tuba and al-Fao.