State-owned South Refineries Company (SRC) has awarded the US’ Shaw Group a deal to carry out a feasibility study for the rehabilitation of the 140,000 barrel-a-day (b/d) Basra refinery in the south of Iraq.

The study will assess the current condition of the refinery and estimate the engineering, equipment supply and construction services required to improve its operations, according to a 13 December press release.

Shaw did not disclose the value of the contract, but the study will be funded by the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) through a grant to SRC, the first provided directly to an Iraqi body, marking the USTDA’s support of Iraq’s long-term economic development.

The deal is also Shaw’s fourth refining project in Iraq, where it is working on feasibility studies and front-end engineering and design (feed) for two new 150,000 b/d refineries near the cities of Missan, on the eastern border with Iran and Kirkuk in the north of the country. The feed includes all process units, offsite facilities and utilities for both refineries (MEED 25:11:11).

Working with France’s Axens, Shaw will also provide a process design package for a 30,000 b/d residual fluidised catalytic cracking unit at the Daura refinery, operated by state-owned Midland Refineries Company.