Royal Dutch Shell plc has signed a heads of agreement with the Iraqi government for the development of a major petrochemicals complex in the south of the country, a Shell spokesman confirmed on Jan. 28.

The project will include the construction of a potential world-scale cracker and derivative complex in Basra—the first major chemicals scheme Iraq since the early 1990s.

The facility will tap ethane feedstock from associated gas captured by the Basra Gas Co., a consortium led by Shell to capture and process gas released as a byproduct of oil production.

Known as Nebras, the $11-billion project has been in the works since feasibility studies began in 2012.

Iraq currently has three petrochemical complexes—Khor al-Zubair in the south, Musayeb near the capital city of Baghdad and at the Baiji refinery complex in the north—all operated by State Co. for Petrochemical Industries.

The Dutch multinational recently canceled a world-scale, multi-billion dollar petrochemical project with Qatar Petroleum, citing rising capital costs.