Two firms are reported to be in talks with the Ninewa provincial government for the development of a new refinery in the north of Iraq.

Turkey’s Calik and Iraq’s KAR Group have both submitted proposals to the provincial government for the construction of a 100,000 barrel-a-day (b/d), 300MW power plant, according to the Ali Mahmood, spokesman for Nineveh Governor, according International Oil Daily.

The provincial government invited local and international firms to bid for the refinery’s construction and a 20-year operatorship deal in October 2013 in the hope of resolving its persistent fuel shortages and create employment opportunities.

There is currently a 20,000 b/d refinery in the Qayarah area, which was built in 1955 and is operated by state-owned North Refineries Company. Most of its units have been inoperable since the mid-1980s.

A new refinery at Qayarah does feature in the plans of the Oil Ministry, which has set out a downstream strategy of rehabilitating its existing facilities and building a raft of new plants. However, the Oil Ministry responded in October saying the governor has no right to sign contracts without its consent.

Under the ministry plan, the refinery will be developed in two phases and will process ultra-heavy crude oil from the Najma and Qayarah oil fields.

The governor, Atheel Nujaifi, has held discussions with refinery firms in the past, signing an initial agreement with Egypt’s Citadel Capital to build a 150,000 b/d refinery at Mosul in August 2011.