Al-Rifai district () is an Iraqi district located in the
Dhi Qar Governorate, 80 km north of
Nasiriyah
Nasiriyah ( , ; , BGN: , ), also spelled Nassiriya or Nasiriya, is a city in Iraq, the capital of the Dhi Qar Governorate. It lies on the lower Euphrates, about south-southeast of Baghdad, near the ruins of the ancient city of Ur. Its po ...
and 300 km south of
Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
. Its name is attributed to Sheikh
Ahmed al-Rifa'i, founder of the
Rifa'i Sufi order. It includes the administrative center of the city of Al-Rifai and the towns
Al Nasir, Al Fajir (ناحية الفجر) and
Qalat Sukkar
Qalat Sukkar () is a town in the Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, located on the Gharraf Canal.
Demographics
Qalat Sukkar has a population of 110,000. World Gazetteer, accessed 19 February 2009
Location
Qalat Sukar is located on a ridge west of the ...
. The district has a population of 450,000 people, mostly
Arabs
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...
and
Shias who work in agriculture, small business, and government jobs.
Al-Rifai city
Al-Rifai city was built in 1880. In the mid 19th century, it attracted merchants from all around Iraq due to the agricultural plenty, especially wheat, barley, dates, and Arabic horses which had been exported to India. At first scattered houses and silos were built on both banks of
Al-Gharraf River. The city was upgraded to a district in 1928.
Garraf oil field
Garraf oil field located in al-Rafai district roughly 5 km northwest al-Rafai city. It was explored in 1984. The oil field is 17.5 km long and 5.5 km wide and holds between 860 million-1 billion barrels.
[Weatherford Wins $200m Project at Garraf Oil Field]
''Iraq Business News'', 20 October 2011. The yield oil is kind of light oil, its
API gravity varies from 15° to 36°.
Garraf oil field was awarded to consortium led by Malaysian petronas with Japanese Jappex as secondary partner in Second licensing round in December 2009.
According to the deal the remuneration fee offered was $1.49 and the 'plateau production target' was 150,000 barrels per day.
Oil Stampede: Iraq's 2nd Bid Round Results
''Wikileaks'', 14 December 2009.
So the agreement provides that Iraqi government representing by South Oil Company has 25% share of garraf oil field while Petronas has 45% and Japex hold 30% stake.
Sumer university
Sumer university is a Public university located in al Rafai city, found in 2011. It consists of three colleges: college of Agriculture, college of management and economy, and college of basic education.
References
Districts of Iraq
Populated places in Dhi Qar Province
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