The Iraqi government has let a contract to a consortium of South Korean firms for the construction of a refinery in southern Karbala Province, Iraq, 100 km south of Baghdad.

The Iraqi council of ministers approved the contract award between the oil ministry’s state company for oil projects and a four-company consortium led by Hyundai Engineering & Construction on Jan. 7, a cabinet statement said. The 54-month engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract is valued at $6.04 billion.

The planned 140,000-b/d Karbala refinery, which will produce liquefied gas, gasoline, gas oil, fuel oil, jet fuel, and asphalt meeting international standards equivalent to European production, will serve growing domestic Iraqi demand, Iraq’s Minister of Oil Abdulkareem Liaybi said on Jan 9.  Production from the Karbala refinery also will feed the Khayrat power station, which supplies Karbala Province with electricity, according to the oil ministry.

The Karbala project is part of Iraq’s longer-term plan to construct four refineries in an effort to add 750,000 b/d of refining capacity. The additional planned projects include a 300,000-b/d Nassiriya refinery as well as two additional refineries in Maysan and Kirkuk, each with a capacity of 150,000 b/d.