Iraq News Now

Leadership from French oil firm Total and Iraq's Oil and Electricity Ministries sign a Heads of Agreement on March 29, 2021. (Source: Oil Ministry media office)

The Iraqi Cabinet cleared a major hurdle toward implementing a $27 billion energy deal with TotalEnergies, deciding on Tuesday to approve a 30 percent state participation in the project, according to a Cabinet statement.

If it moves forward, the project could be foundational to Iraq's plans for increasing production of oil, gas, and electricity: water injection needed to boost production at the largest oil fields in Basra; a processing plant needed to capture valuable associated gas that is otherwise being wastefully flared; and solar power generation.