Germany’s Ruhr Pumpen is in the later stage of negotiations with the Iraq Oil Ministry for an estimated $200m contract for pumps and turbines.

Talks are expected to be completed and a contract signed before the end of April for the deal, which will help Iraq increase its crude oil export capacity from the south of the country, sources close to the project tell MEED.

The deal involves the supply and installation of 10 gas turbines at the Al-Faw storage facility, which supplies Iraq’s crude oil export terminals and newly installed single-point moorings (SPMs).

Although the SPMs have a design capacity of 900,000 barrels a day (b/d), pump capacity limitations at Al-Faw and the main pumping station, PS-1, mean they only work at half that level.

Four electrical booster pumps were installed at Al-Faw in late-2011, but still need to be connected to a power source. In addition, Iraq had not previously allocated funds for the 10 gas turbine pumps, estimated to cost around $200m.

Delays in securing power and funding meant the Oil Ministry was forced to build a 48-inch pipeline between Zubair-1 and Al-Faw, which was completed in 2011, making use of redundant pumps from the now disused Iraq-Saudi export pipeline. Flow rates have been hindered, however, by the capacity limits of the pumps and the pipeline itself, the diameter of which is not consistent along its length.

Iraq plans to install four new SPMs. These will not be able to operate at full capacity until 2014 at the earliest, when all the pumps, storage tanks and pipelines will be in place at Al-Faw.