Two Kirkuk officials revealed new details about the new refinery project in the province yesterday , Friday, while confirming that the value of the contract is 2 billion dollars and its equipment is being prepared by the American company UOP .
Kirkuk Governor’s Advisor for Investment Affairs Ali Hammadi said: “The signing of the Kirkuk Governorate administration, represented by Governor Ribwar Taha Mustafa, of the contract to implement the construction of the Kirkuk oil refinery will contribute significantly to meeting the governorate’s needs for gasoline and fuel.”
Hammadi added, “The value of the project contract is two billion dollars, with an implementation period ranging between two and three years. The project will also provide about 3,000 job opportunities for the people of Kirkuk,” indicating that “the coming period will witness the project entering into force after completing the special procedures for the process of handing over the project land to the company.”
The project comes within the plans and programs of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, to cover the local need for oil derivatives in the country, and to work on exporting the surplus through investment refinery projects .
The refinery is scheduled to produce 70,000 barrels per day of high-quality oil derivatives .
For his part, the director of Rania Energy and Oil Company, Jalal Haj Ahmed, said, “The company’s signing of the contract with the Kirkuk administration is an important step, as the company will work to establish the refinery according to international specifications, and will adhere to the dates for its operation. The refinery will be equipped by the large American company UOP ,” indicating that “the equipment and supplies will be the first of their kind and environmentally friendly .”
He added, “When implemented, the project will provide about 3,000 job opportunities for the people of Kirkuk in all its components.”
last Thursday that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and the Federal Ministry of Oil had approved the establishment of the first oil refinery in the province .
Mustafa said in a press conference “Kirkuk signed the first investment contract to establish an oil refinery with a capacity of 70,000 barrels per day, and obtained the approvals of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Oil.”
Mustafa said, “The refinery’s location will be near the North Gas Company, southwest of Kirkuk,” noting that “the refinery will provide job opportunities for young people, and the implementing company is Rania International Oil Company.”
In the same context, oil expert Ali Khalil said, “Implementing the first oil refinery project in Kirkuk will contribute to supplying the province with oil products, especially since Kirkuk is considered one of the oil-producing provinces, and this project is the first of its kind.”
He added, “The design capacity of the old Kirkuk refinery is 60 thousand barrels of white oil, gas, and black oil. There are no filtration and hydrogenation towers in the refinery. If hydrogenation had been present, workers would have been able to increase production and improve the quality of the product.”
He pointed out that “Kirkuk depends on Baiji refineries and other refineries, and if a new refinery project is implemented there, it will contribute to enhancing the products in the province and supplying the neighboring provinces with oil derivatives.”
He added, “The Ministry of Oil announced the Kirkuk Refinery project more than 10 years ago and repeated the announcement in 2017.”
The Iraqi Ministry of Oil announced on Tuesday, October 17, 2017, its intention to build a new oil refinery in Kirkuk and boost oil production from existing fields .
The Iraqi Ministry of Oil stated that it intends to increase oil production from Kirkuk fields to more than one million barrels per day, noting that there are plans to assign foreign companies to enhance production from Kirkuk oil fields .
