Reuters Baghdad time On January 28, 2015, Iraqi Industry Minister Nasser al-Esawi stated on Wednesday that Royal Dutch/ Shell Petroleum Group has signed an agreement worth 11 billion U.S. dollars with Iraq and will establish a petrochemical plant in Basra, the southern oil city of the country.

Esawi said at the press conference that the Nibras project is expected to make Iraq the largest petrochemical producer in the Middle East. The project is expected to be put into production within the next five to six years and it is not yet clear what its estimated capacity will be.

Shell is one of the major oil companies operating in southern Iraq. In 2012, it signed a memorandum of understanding on the project with the Iraqi government.