(Yicai) Oct. 18 -- Chinese construction engineering firm Norinco International said it penned a USD2 billion contract to expand the capacity of an oil refinery in Iraq.

Norinco inked a construction deal with Awsat Energy, a company set up for the project, at the ongoing Belt and Road CEO Conference of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, it announced late yesterday. The pair will join hands to facilitate the financing, it added.

Beijing-based Norinco will mainly focus on the geological survey, design, procurement, transportation, construction, and trial operation of the TQ oil refinery located in the Dhi Qar governorate, it noted, without disclosing the capacity expansion target, current output, and actual controller of the plant.

The deal will take effect after an investment agreement signed by the refinery's owner and a company under Iraq's Ministry of Oil comes into force, as well as when the project finishes financing, and other conditions agreed by Norinco and Awsat Energy are met, the Chinese firm pointed out.

Norinco [SHE: 000065] climbed 1.9 percent to CNY13.15 (USD1.80) per share as of 10.10 a.m. in Shenzhen today, after earlier jumping by as much as 3.8 percent.

Editor: Martin Kaidev