A $27-billion agreement signed between Iraq and France’s oil giant TotalEnergies will support Iraq’s plans to expand its crude oil output and petrochemical industries, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said in a report on Tuesday.
The agreement, which involves four major projects, will also significantly boost Iraq’s revenue and allow it to avoid wasting its gas wealth by ending flaring practices.
“This is a strategic package that will largely support the Iraqi economy… it will help maximize revenue, support plans to boost crude production and petrochemical industries, and stop gas flaring,” Oil Ministry spokesman Assim Jihad said.
He told the local media that the agreement would sharply increase Iraq’s gas output by an additional 600 million cubic feet per day.
Iraq to invest heavily in Artawi oilfield The deal also involves heavy investments in a sea water desalination facility with a production of 5 million bpd, Jihad said, adding that the produced water would mostly be pumped to oilfields to increase crude production.
“Some of the water will also be supplied to companies involved in oil extraction… there is a need for one barrel of water to extract one barrel of oil,” he said.
Jihad said that TotalEnergies would invest heavily in the development of the Artawi oilfield in the Southern Basra Governorate to produce 80,000-90,000 bpd, which will be increased later to around 210,000 bpd.
He noted that Artawi, with estimated proven reserves of nearly 10 billion barrels, contains light crude which is in “high demand in global markets.”
TotalEnergies will also build a solar power plant in Iraq with an output capacity of 1,000 MW.
“This is one of the largest solar power projects in the region… It ushers in a real beginning of renewable energy investment in Iraq,” Jihad noted.
