Cabinet approves oil export expansion funding

Workers attempt repairs on the SPM-1 export buoy on Sept. 8, 2019. (Source: Basra Oil Company media office)

BASRA - The Iraqi government has approved a $417 million investment in southern oil infrastructure that would increase export capacity by half a million barrels per day in just over a year, potentially easing a critical bottleneck that would otherwise constrain Iraq's production capacity and revenue potential.

In its weekly meeting on Tuesday, the Cabinet voted to green-light funding for the Sealine 3 project, to be led by the Dutch company Boskalis and the state-run Basra Oil Company (BOC), although the decision is contingent on Parliament passing a budget law that has suffered extensive delays.