US-based Honeywell said its company UOP has won a technology contract from the State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP) for a new transportation fuel refinery in Iraq.

A leader in diversified technology and manufacturing, Honey well said under the deal UOP will provide key technologies to process 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of domestic crude oil into gasoline and diesel fuel at the new facility in Nassiriya.

Also UOP will provide reforming, isomerization, fluid catalytic cracking and selective hydrotreating technologies under the contract with SCOP.

As part of the overall technology package, UOP will also provide basic engineering, technology licences, catalysts and specialty equipment for the new refinery.

Honeywell's UOP previously received awards in 2010 from South Refineries Company and North Refineries Company for new refineries in Maissan and Kirkuk, Iraq, each rated at 150,000 bpd.

'We are pleased to be working with the SCOP again as Iraq focuses on doubling its oil refining capacity,' said Rajeev Gautam, president and CEO of UOP.

'The high yields delivered by our technologies combined with our methodology for process unit integration and optimization will enable SCOP to produce the maximum yields of high-quality gasoline and diesel product while also maximizing the economic value of the project,' Gautam explained.

According to him, the refining capacity in Iraq is expected to reach 1.6 million bpd by 2017, more than two times the capacity of its existing refineries.

'This capacity is expected to double again by 2030, driven by increased transportation fuel demand within Iraq,' he remarked.

According to Gautam, the design work will begin in the second quarter of 2011.

The specific UOP technologies to be provided to SCOP include the CCR Platforming and Penex processes, which are used to produce high-octane gasoline, as well as the UOP FCC and Selectfining technologies, which enable high-yield production of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and gasoline, Honeywell added.-TradeArabia News Service