Hilal Al Basra and Chinese firm Consortium signs Contract for Integrated Energy Project

Iraq’s Ministry of Oil has signed a major contract for the South Basra Integrated Project with a consortium comprising China’s Geo-Jade Petroleum and Iraq’s Crescent Basra (Hilal Al-Basra).

The agreement, signed on Wednesday marks the Ministry’s first adoption of a fully integrated project model.

Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani described the deal as a strategic leap in developing Iraq’s oil wealth and supporting the national economy. The project includes:

• Increasing production at Al-Tubba [Tuba] field from 20,000 to 100,000 barrels per day (bpd).
• Constructing a high-specification refinery with a capacity of 200,000 bpd.
• Establishing a petrochemical plant with an annual capacity of 620,000 tonnes.
• Building a fertilizer plant producing 520,000 tonnes annually.
• Developing a thermal power plant generating 650 megawatts.
• Building a 400-megawatt solar power station.

Surplus electricity from the project will be fed into the national grid, contributing to Iraq’s energy mix and infrastructure enhancement.

The Minister emphasised the project’s role in economic diversification and job creation for thousands of Iraqi workers. The signing ceremony was attended by deputy ministers for distribution, extraction, gas, and refining, along with senior officials from relevant companies and departments, including: Bassem Mohamed Khudair, Deputy Minister for Extraction; Bassem Abdul Karim, Director General of Basra Oil Company (BOC); and Hassan Mohamed Hassan, Director General of the Iraqi Drilling Company (IDC).

The companies signed a Heads of Agreement exactly one year ago.