State Co. for Oil Projects (SCOP), part of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, has awarded Axens IFP Group Technologies basic design and license contracts for construction of a refinery in Nassiriya, the supply company announced.

Axens will supply the following process technologies:

• H-Oil_RC technology for the hydroconversion of 52,000 b/sd of vacuum residue. The plant will convert vacuum resid to low-sulfur distillates and produce a low-sulfur residue. H-Oil technology is employed for heavy oil residue conversion (H-Oil_RC) and for difficult distillate conversion (H-Oil_DC) applications, explained the company announcement.

• Prime-D, gas oil desulfurization hydrotreater. The 105,000-b/sd unit will produce ultralow-sulfur diesel with less than 10 ppm of sulfur.

• Prime-K, kerosene desulfurization hydrotreater with a processing capacity of 24,000 b/sd.

• Butane isomerization unit with a process capacity of about 11,900 b/sd.

The refinery will have a capacity of 300,000 b/sd of domestic crude oil and deliver high-quality products mainly for the domestic market.