Arabian Oil plans to rebuild oil facilities in southern Iraq (03/08/04)

Arabian Oil Co., the largest oil supplier in Japan, has announced plans to launch a project to rebuild oil facilities in southern Iraq with a state-run Iraqi oil company, officials from the company declared this week.

Arabian Oil plans to rebuild damaged and obsolete production facilities

Arabian Oil is currently in discussions with visiting officials from Iraq's South Oil Company on the plan to rebuild damaged and obsolete oil producing and shipping facilities on the Persian Gulf.

Initially, Arabian Oil will accept trainees from Iraq and begin giving them technological expertise. Arabian Oil aims to use the oil reconstruction project as a stepping stone toward acquiring an interest in future oil development projects in Iraq. If the project is realised, Arabian Oil will be the first Japanese company fully engaged in any oil development project in Iraq since the end of the 1991Gulf War.

According to the officials, a consortium is expected to be formed with Japanese businesses in the steel, construction and civil engineering sectors as the reconstruction work would likely involve crude oil pipelines, storage tanks and oil-shipping ports.

According to the Arabian Oil officials, a consortium is expected to be formed with Japanese businesses in the steel, construction and civil engineering sectors as the reconstruction work would likely involve crude oil pipelines, storage tanks and oil-shipping ports. The repair of facilities in Rumaila, one of Iraq's largest oil fields located near the southern border with Kuwait, is expected to be amongthe priority targets of the reconstruction project.

Source: Kyodo News