Reliance Industries plans aggressive bid for Iraq refinery project

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) plans to make an all-out bid for securing the contract for a 3,00,000 barrels per day refinery project in Iraq, sources said.

"We will make every effort to secure the contract for the Al Nasiriya refinery project in Iraq," a RIL source told reporters on the sidelines the company's 39th annual general meeting in Mumbai.

Chairman Mukesh Ambani had earlier in the day told the shareholders that RIL had been pre-qualified for the Al Nasiriya refinery project, but did not elaborate.

The Iraqi government has shortlisted RIL and six others for developing its Al Nasiriya oilfield and the construction of an associated 3,00,000 barrels per day refinery in the war-ravaged Arab nation.

Other short-listed entities include the French energy giant Total, Russia's Lukoil, CNPC of China and American firm Brown Energy.

Russia's Zarubezhneft and JGC & Tonen General of Japan are the other two shortlisted from 14 companies which have expressed interest in taking up the multi-billion dollar project. The project might be awarded by year end.