OPEC producer Iraq is pushing ahead with the $11-billion Nibras petrochemical project despite Shell’s decision in February to pull out, Iraq’s Oil Minister has said.

Hayan Abdel Ghani said Shell decided to quit its 45 percent stake in the project due to a policy shift to gas investments instead of petrochemicals, adding that the move has not resulted in any dispute with Iraq.

“We are pursuing work on this project despite Shell’s decision to withdraw…we will not restart the project from zero since all relevant studies have already been completed,” he told the official Iraqi News Agency on Monday.

Ghani said Nibras in the Southern Basra city has been on the cards since 2015 and it has a designed capacity of 2.8 million tonnes per year,  adding that it also includes a 300,000-bpd oil refinery.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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