January 31, 2025 [Zawya]- OPEC producer Iraq has awarded a local company a project to build a refinery in the Northern oil-rich Kirkuk Governorate with a production capacity of 70,000 barrels-per-day (bpd).

Governor Rebwar Taha said after signing the contract on Thursday that it will be the first refinery in Kirkuk and would supply the local market with refined products.

He was quoted by the Iraqi News Agency as saying  that Sulaimaniyah-based Rania Group would construct the refinery near gas fields in South-West Kirkuk.

Iraqi officials have said there are plans to increase Kirkuk’s oil production to 1 million bpd as part of an overall capacity expansion programme in Iraq, which controls the world’s fifth largest recoverable oil deposits of more than 145 billion barrels.

BP had signed a MoU with Iraq in 2024 for the development of key oil and gas fields in Kirkuk.

Officials said in 2024 that refinery projects would boost Iraq’s refining output capacity  to 1.26 million bpd at the end of the year and capacity is expected to surge after the completion of new refineries.

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