The building of an oil refinery in Deir-ez-Zor moved further ahead following the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding between the Minsitry of Oil and Noor Financial Investment Company.
The MoU follows a similar agreement signed a few months ago between the Kuwaiti company and the Ministry (Read Noor Investment to build oil refinery, petrol stations network).
According to the terms of the new MoU, Noor will provide within nine months a feasibility study on the construction of a 140 000 b/d refinery. Building works will start a year after the study is approved. The Ministry will provide the land and physical infrastructure for the project (electricity, water, etc) while three state institutions (the Syrian Insurance Company, the Engineers Syndicate and the Social Security Fund) will be among the founding shareholders of the project.
Noor was established in January 2005 as the financial arm of the National Industries Group (NIG). If the investment goes ahead it would be Noor's first venture in oil refining.
The Syria Report 2007
