The Rumaila oilfield in southeast Iraq will have ground facilities built by China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Company (CPECC), a Chinese oil and gas contractor. The total value of the contract is worth $386 million and includes the engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning (EPCC) of two sets of crude oil processing facilities. CPECC is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

Basra Energy, a joint venture between BP Holdings Iraq (51%) and CNPC (49%), awarded the contract which includes the construction of two crude processing facilities at Mishrif Qurainat, each with a capacity of 120,000 barrels per day.

The work scope also involves units for desalting and dewatering, oil storage, metering, and export pipelines, as well as public utilities. The project work for the crude processing facilities is expected to be completed in 36 months, followed by another two years of maintenance.

The Mishrif Qurainat plant will be the largest ground facility and the first in 10 years to be built at the Rumaila field, which holds an estimated 17 billion barrels of oil.

Rumaila is a member of the family of oilfields owned by Basra Oil Company. It is one of the biggest oilfields in the world and Iraq’s top producer, providing nearly a third of the nation’s oil needs.