Iraq awards $6bn refinery deal to Hyundai-led consortium

Iraq has awarded a contract to a South Korean consortium of four companies led by Hyundai Engineering to build a refinery in the central Karbala province at a cost of around $6.04 billion, Iraq’s press has reported.

The cabinet approved the deal between the State Company for Oil Projects and the consortium, newspapers said without naming the other participants.

Al Sumaria news network, quoting a cabinet statement, said the refinery would have a production capacity of 140,000 bpd and would be completed within 54 months. It gave no other details but Al Forat news agency quoted Iraq’s oil minister Abdul Karim Luaibi as saying it is an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.

He said the project would be funded through capital expenditure in the state budget over a period of four years, adding that France’s Technip company has already been awarded a contract for project management consultancy (PMC) services.

“The Karbala refinery is one of the largest and most important projects in the hydrocarbon industry in Iraq’s history,” the minister said.

Al Forat also quoted oil ministry spokesman Asem Jihad as saying the project would be constructed on an area of six square km in south Karbala.

Iraq has launched a massive post-war programme to rehabilitate its hydrocarbon sector, with plans to build four new refineries to nearly double output capacity to 1.5 mbpd.

The largest refinery will be built in the southern city of Al Nassirya at a cost of nearly $6bn and a capacity of 300,000 bpd.

 

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