Washington welcomes Iraq’s huge energy deal with TotalEnergies
The white House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, speaks during a daily briefing at the White House. Photo: Getty Images
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The United States welcomed on Tuesday the agreement Iraq concluded one day earlier with TotalEnergies to boost production of oil, gas and renewable energy.
The White House national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, mentioned in a statement that the massive agreement signed this week in which regional and US companies are participating represents an Iraqi major step towards achieving energy self-sufficiency and meeting its climate goals.
TotalEnergies signed on Monday the long-awaited $27 billion energy deal expected to increase oil production and Iraq’s capacity to produce energy through oil, gas and renewable energy projects, according to Reuters.
The deal was signed in 2021 to build four oil, gas, and renewable energy projects with an initial investment of $10 billion in southern Iraq over 25 years, but several setbacks amid disputes between Iraqi politicians over the terms hindered the deal.
The first of these projects involves the use of seawater to support oil extraction operations.
The second project is the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP), which aims to improve Iraq’s electricity supply by recovering flared gas at three oilfields and using the gas to supply power plants, helping to reduce the country’s import bill, according to Reuters.
The third project is to develop the Artawi oilfield to increase its production capacity to more than 210,000 barrels per day.
The fourth project is to develop a 1-gigawatt solar power plant to supply southern Iraq with electricity.