Iraq’s Minister of Industry and Minerals Nasser al-Esawi signed an agreement worth $11 billion with Royal Dutch Shell to build a petrochemicals complex “Nibras” in Basra, Iraq.


The complex is expected to make Iraq produce 3% of the petrochemical products in the world, with a capacity reaching 1.8 million tons annually.


The agreement will have a positive effect on Iraq’s economy as 50,000 job opportunities will be provided, added to expected revenues worth of $1 billion annually and other benefits.


Shell has been working with the Iraqi ministries of Industry and Minerals, and Oil to develop a joint investment model for a petrochemical cracker and derivative complex in the south of Iraq since the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) both parties signed in 2012, Shell Iraq'sVice President and Country Chairman Hans Nijkamp said.