US-based KBR has been picked as a consultant for a major oil pipeline between the southern Iraqi oil hub of Basra and Haditha in Al-Anbar governorate in Western Iraq.

The state-owned Basra Oil Company (BOC), which manages most of Iraq’s southern oil fields, will sign a contract with KBR for the project.

Iraq’s cabinet, which met under Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi on Saturday, decided to award the contract to KBR, according to a cabinet statement.

“The cabinet authorised BOC to sign a contract with the KBR to provide consultancy services for the Basra-Haditha pipeline project, the statement said.

In April, the previous cabinet under Al-Sudani had announced the allocation of $1.5 billion for the $5 billion project which also includes extended pipelines to Kirkuk in Northern Iraq and to Jordan.

Reuters reported on Monday that agreements have been inked with a consortium including US-based companies TI Capital and Chevron and Qatar's UCC for technical and economic feasibility studies comparing Basra-Haditha-Kirkuk-Ceyhan and ‌Basra-Haditha-Baniyas pipelines

Last month, Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi and US Special Presidential Envoy Tom Barrack had agreed to advance the memorandum of understanding with US-based TI Capital to rehabilitate the Kirkuk-Baniyas Pipeline as a vital oil export route.

(Writing by N Saeed; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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