Iraq, France's Total Agree 'Giant' Energy Projects

CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2021) The Iraqi oil ministry has signed an agreement "in principle" with French oil major Total to work together on four big energy projects.

"The minister of oil... Ihsan Abdul Jabbar Ismail confirmed that an agreement was reached with the French company Total to implement four giant projects," a statement published Monday read.

The most important of them is a complex that will treat associated gas from Ratawi, West Qurnah 2, Majnun, Tuba and Lahis oilfields. It will be constructed in two stages and have a capacity of 600 million cubic feet.

The other projects are the development of the Ratawi oilfield to maximize gas supplies, the construction of a solar energy plant with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts and a seawater project, which the ministry has been trying to implement for more than a decade.

The oil ministry said it had been in talks with Total on the investment projects worth billions since October. Total chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said the agreement was an important step toward the signing of a final deal, which still needs the cabinet's endorsement.