Tuesday, Jul 26, 2011
By Hassan Hafidh
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
AMMAN (Dow Jones)--An Italian consortium will build and operate a 200,000-barrels-a-day refinery in the middle of Iraq as part of a drive to boost fuel supply, the country's deputy oil minister said Tuesday.
Ahmad al-Shammaa told Dow Jones Newswires the preliminary agreement is valid for six months, during which time the consortium should make progress on securing finance and equipment to build the project in Kerbala province, some 100 kilometers south of Baghdad.
The joint venture, named as Refinery of Kerbala Corporation Ltd., includes Italy's Saipem SpA (SPM.MI), a large financial institution, and ex-Eni SpA (E) executives, Shammaa said.
"After six months if they prove to be serious and they have made progress in securing financial, technical and equipment suppliers, we will sign with them a final contract to build the refinery," he said.
The project will be built on the basis of build, operate and own and is estimated to cost around $6 billion. Construction is expected to take around four years, Shammaa said.
-By Hassan Hafidh, Dow Jones Newswires; +962 799 831 831; hassan.hafidh@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
26-07-11 1228GMT
