Iran eyes oil pipeline to Basra

TEHRAN, July 2 (UPI) -- Five Iranian companies have expressed interest in bidding on the construction of the Abadan-Basra pipeline to Iraq, Iranian officials say.

Ali Moallemipour, an Iranian lawmaker tasked with overseeing the project, said the pipeline would run roughly 5 miles in Iranian territory, with more than 30 miles crossing Iraqi territory.

"The project includes a pipeline 32 inches in diameter for transporting 350,000 barrels of crude per day from the Basra oilfield to Abadan as well as a pipeline 16 inches in diameter for transporting 150,000 barrels of oil products per day from Abadan to Basra," he said.

Iraqi officials had invited international bidders for their portion of the project in 2008. Moallemipour said despite modest setbacks, the pipeline should go online within the next few years, the Iranian newspaper Iran Daily reports.

The report says Iraq has agreed to export oil products to Iran through the remainder of 2009. Meanwhile, both countries are moving forward on developments of an oil refinery in Karbala and several other projects.

Iraq earlier this week held auctions for eight service contracts in the oil-rich country, though price concerns and unrest in some regions sparked little concrete interest.