Iraq’s state-owned South Refineries Company (SRC), has awarded Axens of France two contracts to provide basic engineering design and technology licensing for a planned $5bn refinery in the Missan province.

The deal was awarded in mid-June. Axens will supply process licenses covering:

• 35,100 barrel-a-day (b/d) naphtha hydrotreater
• 24,500 b/d continuous catalytic reformer (CCR) for gasoline production
• 56,300 b/d vacuum gas oil (VGO) hydrotreater producing a moderate sulphur feedstock for a fluid catalytic cracker (FCC).
• 27,600 b/d deasphalted oil hydrotreater
• 278,000 tonne-a-year (t/y) saturated liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) treatment unit
• 399,400 t/y unsaturated LPG treatment unit

The 150,000 b/d grassroot refinery will deliver high-quality products mainly for the domestic market.The US’ Shaw Group is expected to complete the feasibility study and design by the end of 2011.

Axens was awarded a technology deal in February for a new FCC unit at the Basra Refinery in the south of Iraq, which is currently being expanded by Prokop Engineering and Technoexport, both of the Czech Republic (MEED 11:3:11).