Iraq says $4 billion needed for new downstream oil investments

[February 13, 2018]   KUWAIT (Reuters) - Iraq needs $4 billion for new investments in its downstream oil industry, Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said on Tuesday, outlining plans to expand refining capacity over the next several years.

Kuwait's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah al Khalid Al Sabah, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, European High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and other delegates pose for a group photo ahead of the Kuwait International Conference for Reconstruction of Iraq, in Bayan, Kuwait February 13, 2018. REUTERS/Stephanie McGehee

Speaking at a conference on reconstruction of the war-torn country, he also said Iraq planned to boost its crude oil production capacity to 7 million barrels per day by 2022, from 5 million bpd at present.

Luaibi said the downstream investment would lift refining capacity to 1.5 million bpd by 2021, with 500,000 bpd of that earmarked for export.

The increase in refining capacity would come from seven projects, some of them new and some involving expansion of existing refineries.

Some would be turnkey projects, in which contractors would hand over facilities to Iraq, while others would be build-operate-transfer deals in which private firms would receive concessions to operate facilities.

(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Writing by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Dale Hudson)

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