Homs Refinery

=Overview=

The Homs Refinery is located 7 kilometres west of Homs City on the international highway to Lebanon.

The Homs refinery was the first refinery built in Syria and came on stream in 1959. It initially processed Iraqi crude oil to satisfy local markets and exported the excess to other markets.

According to a leaked US diplomatic cable from February 2010, Homs Governor Iyad Ghazal was planning to relocate and expand the refinery at Homs as part of his "Dream of Homs" regeneration vision. The biggest challenge would be to relocate the oil refinery from the west of the city to the east. The cable notes that a plan presented in 2007 to refurbish the refinery for approximately $800,000,000 was scrapped after lobbying of the central government, on the grounds that the costs outweighed the benefits.

=Capacity=

The facility at Homs is capable of processing 107,000 barrels per day (bpd), accounting for 45 % of Syria's total refining capacity.

=Ownership=

The Homs refinery, like the Banias Refinery, is a subsidiary of the state-owned General Corporation for Refining and Distribution of Petroleum Products (GCRDPP).

=Impact of Unrest 2011-12=

A pipeline serving the Homs refinery was blown up by rebels looking to disrupt the country's supply of oil in December 2011. It was not clear at the time whether the attack had cut off the supply of crude to the refinery. The pipeline, running from the Rumailan fields, was hit several times during the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

=External Links=

Official Website: www.homsrefinery.com

=References=

