Decades later: Iraq’s oil refinery in Somalia resurfaces in spotlight

Shafaq News/ An Iraqi oil refinery built in Somalia in the 1970s under a joint deal with Mogadishu still exists, an overlooked legacy just now brought to light by economist Nabil Al-Marsoumi.

In remarks to Shafaq News, Al-Marsoumi noted that the facility was built in 1974 by Iraq’s State Company for Oil Projects with an annual refining capacity of 500,000 tons.

He explained that Iraq financed the refinery’s construction in foreign currencies, while Somalia's 50% share of the project’s costs was to be repaid over three years after operations began, at a symbolic interest rate.

Al-Marsoumi noted that the Somali president asked Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, on the sidelines of the Arab League Summit held in Baghdad on Saturday, to rehabilitate the now-damaged refinery, signaling interest in restarting operations. “Quite the surprise,” he said. “Iraq has a refinery abroad and nobody even knew!”