Iraq, Exxon End Talks on Water Treatment Project

Iraq is no longer in talks with Exxon Mobil Corp for the oil major to build a giant water treatment facility vital for the OPEC member to grow its oil production capacity, the director general of the Basrah Oil Co (BOC) told reporters on Wednesday.

Instead, the BOC will award the contract to build the Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP) through a tender process, which it expects to complete at the end of July, Ihsan Ismaael said on the sidelines of the OPEC seminar in Vienna.

BOC has already shortlisted three companies for the contract, which will be awarded on an Engineering Procurement Construction basis, from an initial list of seven applicants, he said.

Ismaael declined to give the cost of the project or name the companies that were shortlisted.

He added the project will have a capacity to treat 5 million barrels per day of seawater, with a possibility of increasing that to 7.5 million barrels.

BOC remains in discussion with Exxon however on other projects in the south of the country, Ismaael added, including the development of the Nahr Bin Umar and Artawi oilfields, and building export facilities.

Exxon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar and Ernest Scheyder