RIL shortlisted for multi-billion dollar Iraq oil project

Besides RIL, French energy giant Total, Russia's Lukoil, CNPC of China and American firm Brown Energy have been shortlisted for the project, according to Iraq's Oil Ministry.

Russia's Zarubezhneft and JGC & Tonen General of Japan are the other two shortlisted from 14 companies that expressed interest in taking up the multi-billion dollar project.

The seven qualified firms will now be invited to review data packages and discuss contract terms. Iraq intends to award the project by year end. The OPEC nation has three main refineries - Baiji, Daura and Basra -- with a total capacity of around 567,000 barrels per day (bpd). It wants to increase the refining capacity to 750,000 bpd through improvements in existing plants. It also plans four new refineries in Karbala, Kirkuk, Missan and in Nassiriya.

"The Al-Nasiriya Integrated Project contemplates the development of the 4+ billion barrel Nasiriya oil field in

Thi-Qar province together with the construction and operation of a new 300,000 bpd refinery," Iraq's Petroleum Contracts & Licensing Directorate (PCLD), part of the Ministry of Oil, said.

The international engineering and construction firm Foster Wheeler recently completed a Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) study for the refinery.

The Nasiriya project marks re-entry of RIL into Iraq.

The company's Dubai-based arm Reliance Exploration and Production DMCC had in 2007 taken a 100 per cent stake in the Rovi and Sarta blocks in Kurdistan.

Baghdad termed the

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