The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed a loan agreement with the Government of the Republic of Iraq in Baghdad to provide a Japanese ODA loan of up to 203,060mn yen (US$1.39mn) for the Basra Refinery Upgrading Project
The project will improve Iraq’s capacity for producing oil products and the quality of such products by installing a new fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) complex in the Basra Refinery, one of the biggest oil refineries in the country, located in Basra Governorate.
Although Iraq has high oil-producing potential, with its crude oil reserves ranked fifth in the world, it relies heavily on imported oil products, such as gasoline and diesel. This is because many of the oil-refining facilities in Iraq are currently out of service or deteriorating and thus operate below capacity, due to long-lasting conflicts.
This project will also enable the country to produce oil products that meet international environmental standards.
JICA has previously provided four ODA loans for the Basrah Refinery Upgrading Project.
