TotalEnergies, The French oil giant has signed a contract worth $27-billion to invest in gas, oil and solar energy production in Iraq, said the country’s oil minister.
In a statement the minister Ihsan Ismail said:
“This is the largest investment in Iraq by a Western company, Implementing these projects is the challenge we face now.” Although the information about the value of contract wasn’t confirmed directly by TotalEnergies to AFP, as Iraq has massive reserves of oil and gas.
Despite being the number two producer in the list of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the country is experiencing an acute energy crisis and chronic blackouts that fuel social discontent.
Work on the projects will start in southern Iraq by end of the year, as TotalEnergies will invest $10 billion in the projects over seven years.
Based on the agreement Total energies will invest in in the large Ratawi oil field in the southern province of Basra.
Officials justify the lack of investment and the dilapidated state of its energy network by citing falling oil prices, which represent more than 90 percent of state revenue.
One of these aims to pipe seawater from the Gulf to southern Iraqi oilfields. Water is used to extract oil from subterranean deposits.
Two projects focus on extracting and exploiting gas in southern Iraq, which is rich in fossil fuel deposits.
The fourth project will see the installation of a solar farm in Artawi, near the southern port of Basra.
The Iraqi source said that ultimately, the solar panels should produce “1,000 megawatts” of electricity, the equivalent of the energy produced by a nuclear reactor.
