DENVER, August 1 /PRNewswire/ --
CICSCO Inc., a 13-year old Denver engineering and construction firm
is the odds-on-favorite to win a $750 million contract to build a
new 70,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery in Kurdistan (the Kurdish
region of Iraq), according to James Prall, company president.
Designated the Koia Refinery in Koysonjaq, Iraq, it will be located
about 60 miles from oil-rich Kurdish city of Kirkuk, the center of
the northern oil fields of the country.
Iraq depends on crude oil revenues to support its economy, but is
spending over $200 million a month to import refined oil products to
fuel its own domestic and industrial needs. Iraq has total refining
capacity of 700,000 barrels-per-day but about half of it is not
producing. The new refinery will add about 20 percent to the
existing 350,000 barrels-per-day production, and is scheduled to be
completed in September 2009, 36 months after the contract is
awarded. Approval from Iraq is expected within days.
Despite the turmoil of war and assassinations that have plagued
Iraq, a dedicated group of Iraqi petroleum engineers within
the Oil Ministry have had the persistence and vision to proceed with
a new paradigm that allows creative firms like CICSCO, Inc. to
compete with the world's major engineering companies.
"The key to our participation in the bidding process for what will
be the first new refinery to be built in Iraq in over 30 years is an
Iraqi partner, and technical partnerships with leaders in
environmentally sound new refinery technologies," explained Prall.
"Due to a variety of adverse circumstances in Iraq, the timetable
and plans for reconstruction of the Iraqi oil industry have been
delayed. Unfortunately the results of activities of some of the
major players who were awarded initial contracts early on have been
slow and disappointing," he added.
"Many of Iraq's petroleum engineers have studied in the US, and
appreciate American engineering innovations and business
creativity," said Sam Zakhem, former US Ambassador to Bahrain,
adding, "Creative and expert companies like CICSCO, Inc. represent
the best assistance this country can offer emerging economies like
Iraq. Instead of the traditional monolithic and structured American
contractor, CICSCO, Inc. is poised to execute its contract using the
best technologies of its participating partners, with provisions to
take maximum advantage of local Iraqi manpower and skilled
resources."
"By awarding contracts like this, Iraq gets the best of both
worlds," said Ambassador Zakhem, "American advanced technology,
guidance, and management designed to be built with local resources
-- it's a model to implement and develop advanced technologies in
emerging economies -- and is what America can do best. From the
Iraqi perspective, working within this kind of relationship ensures
that service providers are more responsive and accountable to their
needs."
"Contracts involving strategic and local partners are the new global
engineering paradigm," said Prall. "It allows creative thinking,
innovation, and the flexibility to select the appropriate partner to
add needed expertise without brick-and-mortar overhead or redundant
staff of the large fixed
engineering firms."
"We're looking forward to starting this project, and others as they
develop in Iraq and the Middle East region," concluded Prall, adding
"this contract will also mean the creation of as many as 250 new
professional jobs in the Denver area."
SOURCE CICSCO, Inc.| Dow Jones Top |
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