By:Zawya

OPEC member Iraq is planning to invest in refineries in India, China and other Asian countries to market its crude and boost income, a government adviser has said.

Hatim Al-Fadli said studies for such projects would be carried out soon and negotiations with potential partners would start during 2025-2026.

He told Iraq’s Al-Sumeria news agency on Tuesday that such investments would cover high-capacity oil refineries including existing facilities and construction of new units.

“The studies include investment in the refining sector abroad, particularly China, India, South Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia,” he said.

“We have chosen these countries because of their rapid growth in energy demand and their high populations…these are large consumer markets that will help Iraq expand its market share and diversify its supplies,” he added.

Al-Fadli said the negotiations with potential partners in those countries could result in signing agreements through 2026-2027 and that the projects could involve investing in existing refineries and construction of new facilities.

“Iraq prefers to partly own those projects or enter partnership deals to reduce risks…as for funding, we are studying various forms of finance, including joint funding with global companies or Asian governments or loans from development banks,” he said.