Iraq has signed an agreement with Total to form four mega energy projects in the Middle Eastern country, containing a seawater project and plants for treating natural gas, its oil ministry announced on Monday.
The preliminary contract was indorsed during a visit by Total Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne, the ministry held in a statement.
With this, Iraq had entered in a “giant” contract with French oil company Total SE to build large infrastructure installations, develop oil fields and yield gas, Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar announced in an interview aired on Saturday.
The minister said he anticipated the contract to be settled before July. The relationship with Total will be based on directing low-carbon industry and capturing all spreading gas, and is set to produce 1 gigawatt of solar energy in the first stage. A dedicated team from the oil ministry is said to be leading these discussions with Total.“The agreement is massive, and the volume of the investment surpasses $7 billion,” the minister said.
Abdul Jabbar said circumstances, including the political and administrative decisions for the economic model that defends the rights of both parties, had been set out already.
In January, Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne on acquiring natural gas, clean energy, and infrastructure. Dialogs between Iraq and Total were first reported in October.
Iraq this year is also anticipated to ink a deal to build an oil export pipeline from the southern province of Basra to Jordan’s Aqaba port on the Red Sea. A charter agreement may be signed before mid-April, Abdul Jabbar was quoted saying.
The minister alleged that Iraq will subordinate its gasoline and oil imports by 50% in 2021 and by 90% in 2022. Iraq will need a very restricted volume of oil imports to support power generation, he said.
Iraq’s current gas output stands at 1.5b scf/d and will reach 4b scf/d in 2025. The country in 2010 built gas-fired turbines to generate 20 gigawatts of energy, and those plants need 5b scf/d of gas. Iraq now imports gas from Iran and is trying to expand its imports from Qatar, Kazakhstan and other producers, Abdul Jabbar said.
