Qatar to Build new oil refinery in Tunisia

04-28-2007

Qatar Petroleum is studying building an oil refinery in Tunisia after the government selected it to proceed with the plant. Qatar Petroleum is a state-owned corporation established in the State of Qatar by Emiri Decree in 1974 and it is responsible for all phases of the oil and gas industry in Qatar.

The principal activities of QP and its subsidiaries and joint ventures cover exploration, drilling, production, storage and transport and sale of crude oil, natural gas liquids, liquefied natural gas, refined products, petrochemicals and fertilizers, and Helicopter and financing services.

The operations and activities of the Corporation are conducted at various onshore locations, which include Doha, Dukhan, Mesaieed and Ras Laffan Industrial Cities, as well as offshore areas including Halul Island, offshore production stations, drilling platforms and North Gas Field.

"Tunisia selected Qatar Petroleum as the front-runner for the refinery project," an industry source in Qatar said. "The project is still at a very preliminary stage, and Qatar needs to ensure it is bankable before it proceeds," he added.

QP and British company Petrofac competed for the project. Both were pre-qualified as investors to build the plant. The refinery would have capacity of 120,000 to 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) and be located at the coastal town of Skhira. Skhira is a coastal town in central-eastern Tunisia. It lies on the coast of the Gulf of Gabes and it has a large oil terminal for pipelines coming from the Tunisian and Algerian oilfields.

When Tunisia announced the tender for the project in December 2005, the plant had an investment cost of around $1.5 billion. Industry reports since then have pegged the cost closer to $2 billion.

Libya said in January that it was studying building the refinery jointly with Tunisia and international investors.

QP will transfer the project to a newly formed international investment arm, Qatar Petroleum International, once QPI is up and running and fully staffed, the industry source said. QPI is looking at investment opportunities in the oil and gas industry globally.

Tunisia wants to boost its refinery capacity to meet rising demand for oil products as its economy expands. It has only one refinery, the 30,000 bpd Bizerte plant.