Iraq to build major new oil refinery with Foster Wheeler

Iraq has signed a contract with British engineering and construction company Foster Wheeler to build the country's largest-ever oil refinery, an Iraqi official said. Abdulhassan al-Attabi, the oil ministry representative in the negotiations, said the $ 128-mm plant will be built near the city of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq.
"This refinery will be the largest one ever built in the country," Attabi said. "It will process 300,000 bpd and provide 10,000 jobs."

The refinery will produce light oil products including gasoline, diesel, and cooking fuel, and will be linked to an export line. The project is expected to be completed in less than two years.
The refinery will sit near the Al-Nasiriyah Al-Kabir field which is capable of producing about 300,000 barrels of oil a day, the Al-Gharraf field, which could produce 130,000 bpd, and the Al-Rafidein field, which has an estimated capacity of 110,000 bpd.

Iraq has 115 bn barrels of proven oil reserves -- the third largest in the world -- but much of it remained untapped during decades of war and international sanctions under Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
At the end of February, Iraq was producing 2.31 mm bpd.