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Iraq says $4bn needed for new downstream oil investments

Iraq says $4bn needed for new downstream oil investments
In this file photo Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar Ali Al-Luaibi speaks during a news conference in Basra, Iraq. (REUTERS)
Updated 13 February 2018

Iraq says $4bn needed for new downstream oil investments

Iraq says $4bn needed for new downstream oil investments

KUWAIT: Iraq needs $4 billion for new investments in its downstream oil industry, the country’s Oil Minister Jabar Al-Luaibi said on Tuesday, outlining plans to expand refining capacity over the next several years.
Speaking at a conference on reconstruction of the war-torn country, he also said Iraq planned to boost its crude oil production capacity to 7 million barrels per day by 2022, from 5 million bpd at present.
Luaibi said the downstream investment would lift refining capacity to 1.5 million bpd by 2021, with 500,000 bpd of that earmarked for export.
The increase in refining capacity would come from seven projects, some of them new and some involving expansion of existing refineries.
Some would be turnkey projects, in which contractors would hand over facilities to Iraq, while others would be build-operate-transfer deals in which private firms would receive concessions to operate facilities.