Iraq is planning to invite bids for five new oil refineries to rehabilitate its hydrocarbon industry and other sectors, the country’s Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani said in remarks published on Thursday.
Ghani said the new refineries would add more than 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) to Iraq’s refining capacity, which will support its bid to diversify its economy.
Ghani also said that the new projects comprise a 150,000-bpd refinery in the South-eastern Maysan Governorate, a 100,000-bpd refinery in Muthanna in the South, a refinery with a similar output in Kirkuk in central Iraq, a 150,000-bpd refinery in the Sothern Dhi Qar Governorate, and a 70,000-bpd unit in Nineveh in North Iraq.
Ghani said another project involves the construction of a second unit in the existing Dhi Qar refinery to boost production by 70,000 bpd.
“The oil ministry will in the near future offer these projects as investment opportunities as part of its plans to expand Iraq’s refining production,” he said.
