French giant signs mega deals with Iraq for oil, gas, water
BAGHDAD (AP) — French energy giant Total signed mega contracts with Iraq worth $27 billion to develop oil fields, natural gas and a crucial water project that officials said Monday will be key for the oil-rich country to maintain crude output.
The deals were inked Sunday with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in attendance, according to an Oil Ministry statement.
Total signed contracts with the ministry to develop the Ratawi oil field in southern Iraq, a gas processing hub to capture natural gas from five southern oil fields, and a much needed project to treat Gulf seawater and inject it into reservoirs to maintain oil production levels.
A fourth project was signed with the Electricity Ministry to build a 1,000 megawatt solar power plant.
It is the most lucrative and ambitious deal to be signed by an oil giant in Iraq in years and comes as other international oil companies have taken steps to exit from Iraq's oil sector.
There was no immediate statement from Total.
Iraq urgently needs to develop local gas resources to meet electricity demands, especially during the peak summer months. The country is heavily reliant on Iranian gas and electricity imports, which have been irregular in recent months due to outstanding payments and high demand inside Iran.
In a June interview, Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail said he was aiming to increase Iraq's gas capacity by 3 billion cubic standard feet by 2025. The development of the gas processing hub would bring Iraq a step closer to that goal. Iraq currently imports 2 billion cubic standard feet to meet domestic needs.
The project entails building a gas complex capable of separating and processing the natural gas associated with petroleum that is extracted from the Ratawi, West Qurna 2, Majnoon, Tuba and Luhais oil fields....
