Japan has agreed to lend $2.1 billion to Iraq to develop Basra refinery, a top official was quoted as saying in an Iraq Business News report.

“The Japanese government has agreed to lend Iraq a loan of $2.1 billion to execute a number of projects for rehabilitating Basra Oil Refinery. The loan will be repaid in 40 years with a 2 per cent interest rate,” Ali Shadad Al Fares, head of Oil and Gas Committee of the Basra Provincial Council was quoted as saying.

“The allocated loan will be used to execute a number of strategic and vital projects in Basra refinery and these projects will be completed by 2020. These projects include oil gas hydrogenation project with a capacity of 20000 barrels per day.”

“These projects are designed to bring production at the refinery to about 4,500 tons of reformulated gasoline, and about 27 thousand barrels of fuel oil and 40000 barrels of hydrogenated oil gas per day, in addition to the production of 500 tons of liquid gas,” he added.