Iraq’s Oil Ministry has pushed back the bid deadline by six months to 19 June for its planned new refinery and oil field development at Nasiriyah.

Bids had been due on 23 January, but the Petroleum Contracts & Licensing Directorate (PCLD) announced that the Naisirya Integrated Project bid round will be delayed to allow more time to modify the scheme’s model contract and allow comments from international oil companies.

The project covers the development of the Nasiriyah oil field in the Thi-Qar province in southern Iraq, along with the construction and operation of a new integrated 300,000 barrel-a-day (b/d) refinery, the largest in a raft of new downstream facilities planned by Iraq.

On 7 January, the Iraqi cabinet approved a South Korean consortium, led by Hyundai Engineering & Construction for the construction of a $6m new refinery at Karbala, which will be the first of the new greenfield facilities.