Arab News Japan

YOKOHAMA: JGC Holdings Corporation announced on Sunday that JGC Corporation participated in the contract signing ceremony for the Basra Refinery Upgrading Project held in Baghdad, Iraq, on October 1.

The company said in a statement that JGC Corporation, which operates the overseas engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) business of the JGC Group, received the Letter of Award for this project in August 2020 by Iraq oil refining company under the Iraqi Ministry of Oil (South Refineries Company).

The signing ceremony was attended by Iraqi Minister of Oil Ihsan Abdul Jabbar Ismail, Minister of Planning Khalid Najim, Japanese government officials including the Japanese Embassy in Iraq, and President Yutaka Yamazaki of JGC Corporation, JGC said.

This upgrading of the Basra Refinery will newly install, on land adjacent to the existing Basra Refinery, fluid catalytic cracking unit, vacuum distillation unit, and diesel desulfurization unit, etc.

Although Iraq is currently one of the world’s leading oil-producing countries, the two refineries currently in operation, which were constructed in the 1970s, are experiencing a decline in production capacity due to war damage and deterioration.

Unable to meet domestic demand for petroleum products, Iraq has to import petroleum products such as gasoline, according to the Japanese company. It noted that the completion of this project will increase the production of 19,000 barrels/day of gasoline and 36,000 barrels/day of diesel fuel, making it possible to reduce the gap in supply and demand for petroleum products, and in turn will greatly contribute to the economic recovery of Iraq.

Funding for the project will be procured through Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and is the largest-scale reconstruction assistance from Japan since the 2003 Iraq War.

In carrying out this project, the Group plans to conduct skills training for more than 1,000 Iraqis and to hire approximately 7,000 skilled Iraqi workers. Furthermore, it is expected that more than 2,000 operating personnel jobs will be created after the project’s completion, which will contribute to solving the unemployment problem in Iraq.

The Group will contribute to the reconstruction and economic development of Iraq through the successful completion of this project.