Iraq Samawah Refinery Project Faces Enormous Delays

A project to upgrade an oil refinery in Iraq has not yet been completed nearly 13 years after it was awarded, said the official late last month.

Iraq awarded the contract to expand Samawah Refinery in the Southern Muthanna Governorate in 2008 and allocated funds for the project.

It quoted Hamid Jihadi, an aide to the Governor, as saying the project has not been finished yet because of “financial and administrative obstacles.”

“We have also detected offences in the execution of the contract’s terms by the company which was awarded the project,” Jihadi said.

He did not elaborate on those offences but the Samawah Refinery’s manager Mohammed Fazza said the Governorate has agreed to end the existing contract and award a new one to another company.