KurdistanObserver.com
Two Refineries to be Build in Kurdistan
Region
BAGHDAD, -UPI- Mar 27, 2007-- Two
10,000-barrel-per-day refineries will be built in northern Iraq (Southern
Kurdistan) in an attempt to ease bottlenecks and address the fuel shortage.
The Iraqi newspaper Azzaman reports the Iraq Oil Ministry signed contracts with
state and private Iraq firms to build the refineries. The projects, worth $60
million, will be located in Kurdistan autonomous region in the city of Erbil and
Slaimani.
The north can produce about a third of Iraq's oil, but faces problems exporting
it and the refineries that are in operation operate at capacity. Electricity is
unreliable, causing work stoppages, and demand is high
The country as a whole faces shortages of crude
products such as fuels for transportation, cooking and heating. Officials in
Kurdistan, which has been relatively autonomous since 1992, have said Baghdad is
not doing enough to deal with its fuel crisis.
The ministry did not set a timeline for building the refineries
