Iraq News Now

Iraq is raising the enticing prospect of major energy projects with U.S. companies – including a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chevron for a potential oil exploration joint venture with two Iraqi state companies and negotiations with Honeywell for a gas processing hub – as Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi begins a state visit to Washington, D.C.

While the basic outlines of the prospective deals have only been vaguely defined, and there is no guarantee the negotiations will lead to binding contracts, Kadhimi's willingness to open dialogues with American companies could help set a positive tone for a meeting Thursday with U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration will decide next month whether to extend economically critical sanctions waivers for Iraq.

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