DOHA (AFP) -Qatar is seeking tenders to build a oil refinery with a capacity of 250,000 barrels a day, Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said on Saturday.

The technical and financial studies for construction of a refinery at the Shahine oilfield have been completed, he told journalists, with 2011 set as the target for the facility to become operational.

OPEC member Qatar, which produces some 700,000 bpd, currently has only one refinery at Messaid. With a capacity of only 24,000 bpd, it does not even meet the country’s 32,000 bpd domestic requirements, with the difference being met by imports.