Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said yesterday that Iraq is seeking around 20 billion dollars to build four new refineries as it seeks to become a net exporter of petroleum products.
"The investment in the new refineries will be around 20 billion dollars. Each one will cost around five billion dollars," he told reporters at a conference attended by global energy and construction giants interested in bidding for the contracts.
Iraq aims to boost its refining capacity by 740,000 barrels per day (bpd) on top of the current 550,000 bpd through construction of the four refineries in the central province of Karbala, in the northern oil hub of Kirkuk and in Nasiriyah and Maysan in the south of the country.
"The investment will not be constrained -- we are looking for real partners and in any ratio," Shahristani said.
"Any investor can invest in full or in partnership with Iraq," he added.