Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar Al Luaibi has revealed that around 90 bids have been received to build a new oil pipeline in Kirkuk and the matter is still being evaluated, according to Reuters.
Late last year, Iraq gave foreign oil and gas firms and contractors a month in which to bid to secure the contract for the pipeline, which will replace a badly damaged section of the key, logistical pipeline that connects the oilfields in Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, with the Ceyhan terminal in Turkey.
The new replacement will stretch 350 kilometres to the Iraq-Turkey border area. The pipeline is to have a capacity of more than 1mn barrels per day and, when the ministry originally revealed the tender process, the contract would be arranged on a ‘build-operate-transfer’ basis.
The firm that secured the contract will also be expected to construct a gas pipeline, pumping stations and storage facilities, according to the news agency.
Al Luaibi indicated that the decision on the preferred bid would be made in mid-2018.
