BASRA, Iraq, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. reconstruction of electricity stations in southern Iraq shows promise for boosting the area’s oil sector as well.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has put $76 million toward renovating cluster pump substations, which will assist the increase of oil production from the North Rumailah oil field.
“The Basra Cluster Pump Stations are 10 electrical substations in total,” said Shawn Russell, deputy regional manager with the Gulf Region Division electricity sector. “They are a part of the overall oil infrastructure and one of the biggest and most costly challenges.”
News Blaze reports the renovations included replacing damaged equipment and building new facilities, all of which will be used for water injection facilities in the oil field.
Russell said the projects also brought and trained local workers.
“An important component of each project is the training of operations and maintenance personnel,” he said.
The USACE estimates reconstruction has brought Iraq’s oil production capacity to 3 million barrels per day, though outside experts say that is a slight overstatement. Regardless, Iraq’s actual production is around 2 million bpd because of security and other investment setbacks.
