Iraq Agrees $53bn deal with Exxon, PetroChina
Iraq has agreed the principles of a $53bn contract with American giant ExxonMobil and PetroChina to boost oil and gas production, prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said May 7 according to local press reports.
He said: “The 30-year contract will bring Iraq about $400bn revenues. I ordered the oil minister to finalise the deal as soon as possible."
The project includes transferring and injecting Persian Gulf water into the Artawi and Nahr Bin Umar oil fields in southern area to increase oil output fourfold to 500,000 b/d. It will also include capturing and processing about 1bn m3/yr associated gas from these fields as well as building pipelines to carry water to the fields and oil to the terminals.
“There are ongoing complicated discussions on some remained issues like splitting profits regarding oil price fluctuations, but all sides are agreed on the principles,” Abdul Mahdi added.
ExxonMobil and Petro China have been already co-operating together since 2013 on Iraq’s giant West Qurna phase 1 oil project in southern Iraq. ExxonMobil has also signed six production sharing agreements with Iraqi Kurdistan region in 2011.
Abdul Mahdi visited Germany and France last week, where Iraq signed a $14bn contract with Siemens on electricity projects. Siemens’ American arch-rival GE, which has also been negotiating with Iraq, said April 30 that it expects to deliver a number of other key Iraqi power projects, including 750-MW of additional power by the end of the year.
Last year, Siemens and GE signed preliminary agreements to add 11 GW and 14 GW respectively to Iraq’s power infrastructure.