Iraq Inks $27B Deal With TotalEnergies for Energy Sector Overhaul

Iraq and the French oil giant TotalEnergies signed a long-delayed $27 billion deal Monday to bring foreign investment into the country’s oil, gas, and renewable energy sectors.

Iraq’s oil minister, Hayan Abdul Ghani al-Sawad, inked the deal in Baghdad with TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne. The deal awards 45% of the new Gas Growth Integrated Project to TotalEnergies, 30% to the state-owned Basrah Oil Company, and 25% to another external partner, QatarEnergies.

Iraq and TotalEnergies initially negotiated the deal’s terms in 2021. However, the two sides delayed the agreement while Iraqi politicians debated financial terms.

TotalEnergy CEO Pouyanne said the project would begin this summer. Over the next four years, he said, outsiders would inject $10 billion into projects in the country’s south. Iraqi leaders hope others will soon join suit, bringing more funding to the country’s lagging energy sector.

Scheduled projects include efforts to recover flared gas from three Iraqi oilfields, the construction of a solar power plant to supply electricity, and the building of a water treatment plant that would allow Iraq to use seawater, rather than scarce fresh water, in its water-intensive oil production processes.