The new Qayara refinery is expected to deploy complex and advanced techniques for processing heavy oil into clean products that comply with Euro V standards
Cost estimates for the refinery project have not been disclosed (Credit: SatyaPrem from Pixabay)
Swedish energy company SEAB and Turkish conglomerate Limak have signed an agreement with the Iraqi state-owned firm North Refineries to build an oil refinery in northern Iraq.
According to the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, the parties propose to build a 70,000 barrels per day (b/d) refinery in Qayara in the Nineveh province.
Qayara, which is nearly 80km south of Mosul has a defunct refinery that had a capacity of 20,000b/d. The old refinery, which was built in 1955, used to process heavy crude sourced from the nearby Qayara oil field.
In 2018, the Iraqi government sought investors to build and operate a new refinery in Qayara with a capacity of 100,000b/d.
The new Qayara refinery is expected to deploy complex and advanced techniques for processing heavy oil into clean products that comply with Euro V standards, said the Iraqi Oil Ministry said.
The cost estimates for the project have not been disclosed.
However, SEAB and Limak are likely to present the financial and technical plans for the oil refinery project in the next three months, Argus Media reported.
SEAB is engaged in providing oil waste recovery solutions and waste management in the Middle East. The company had been working in Iraq to help the country in oil recovery, soil remediation, and water treatment.
The Qayara refinery project is one of the initiatives taken up in Iraq with an aim to increase the country’s refining capacity to cut down its dependence on oil product imports.
Iraq has been aiming to ramp up its refining capacity from nearly 875,000b/d to around 1.5 million b/d.
In September this year, Reuters reported that Total has signed deals worth $27bn with Iraq to construct four massive energy projects in the country.