Iraq has announced to build an oil refinery at the port of Fao on the Gulf, with further asking investors to build three more, according to the oil ministry of Iraq
The refinery will be built in cooperation with two Chinese companies, said the ministry.
The Fao refinery is expected to have a capacity of 300,000 bpd and include a petrochemical plant, the ministry further added.
According to Reuters, two other refineries, with capacities of 150,000 bpd each, are set to be built in Nasiriya, southern Iraq, and in the western Anbar province. Another refinery, with approximately 100,000 bpd capacity, is planned in Qayara, near Mosul.
OPEC’s second-largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia, Iraq’s refining capacity was curtailed in 2014 due to the rising tension in oil processing plant in Baiji, north of Baghdad.
Although Iraqi forces recaptured Baiji in 2015, the place sustained heavy damage in the fighting. The country now relies on the Doura refinery in Baghdad and Shuaiba plant in the south, according to the source.
