Japan Nippon Oil in Talks on $5-10 Bln Iraq Refinery
Japan's Nippon Oil Exploration is in talks with the Iraqi government on the construction of an oil refinery worth $5-10 billion and investment in oil exploration for the same amount, a company official said on Friday."We submitted a proposal and still discussion is ongoing," Ryunosuke Onogi, an executive and general manager at the company, which is a member of the Nippon Oil (5001.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) group, told Reuters at an energy conference in Baghdad.
"The construction of the refinery (would cost) about $5-10 billion. Probably the size of the (oil exploration) investment is the same upstream and downstream," Onogi said.
Iraq's cabinet last month approved the construction of two new oil refineries, with a total capacity of 300,000 barrels per day (bpd). Iraq is also planning to build two other refineries, with a total capacity of 450,000 bpd. The refineries' output would be aimed at both the domestic and international markets.
Existing refineries have been crippled by years of sanctions, under-investment and insurgent attacks.
