Iraq Advances Four Energy Projects with French Companies
Iraq's oil minister has outlined four energy projects with French companies covering oil production, gas processing, seawater injection, and solar power. The first project is the development of the Artawi field, which will have a capacity of 210,000 barrels per day. The second project involves investing in gas from five fields with a total capacity of 600 million standard cubic feet per day in two phases.
The third project aims to invest and use seawater for injection purposes to compensate for depleted reservoir pressure. This method has been lacking in Iraq for over a decade, hindering the country's oil production. The fourth project concerns solar energy investment with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts, with the first phase already underway at 250 megawatts.
TotalEnergies is involved in all four projects, which are part of the Gas Growth Integrated Project and the Basra Sun solar plant. Seawater injection, however, has not been publicly disclosed before. The method involves pumping treated seawater into ageing southern reservoirs to restore pressure that lifts crude to the surface.
The oil minister stated that Iraq is working to provide an attractive investment environment for international companies, including French firms like TotalEnergies. He noted that TotalEnergies has invested around $12 billion in Iraq and plans to increase it to $16 billion.