Iraq’s South Refineries Company (SRC) has asked international firms to prequalify for the design, engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of new utility unit at the Basra refinery.

Prequalification documents are due to be submitted by 24 March for the deal.

Basra refinery currently has two trains of atmospheric distillation units with a design capacity of 70,000 barrels a day (b/d) each. A third distillation unit was completed in 2013.

SRC plans to build new process units, including a kerosene hydrotreater, naphtha hydrotreater and isomerisation unit, along with utilities.

The scope of works for the utility project includes:

• Two 100 cubic metre an hour (cm/h) water demineralisation units
• Two 100 tonne an hour steam boilers
• A cryogenic nitrogen plant with a capacity of 300 cm/h of gas, and 250 litres a hour of liquid nitrogen
• Three 2,500 cm/h skid-mounted air compressors  
• Power station and control room
• Piping

Construction is expected to last two years.

SRC asked firms to prequalify in November for a contract to upgrade the Basra refinery. The project’s front-end engineering and design (feed) has been completed by Rome-based APS Engineering, a subsidiary of Japan’s JGC. France’s Axens was selected to provide a technology licence for the new FCC unit in June 2011.