Western Oil Companies Hail Iraq's ‘Fantastic’ Investment Prospects as Deals Signed

Chris Wright's X Account

Iraqi PM Ali al-Zaidi and .S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.

Iraq signed 48 agreements and partnerships with American companies, many in the oil sector, during a visit to the U.S. by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, his office said Saturday.

"A total of 48 agreements, memoranda of understanding, cooperation agreements, and partnership declarations were signed between public and private sector entities in Iraq and the United States," the Iraqi PM's media office said.

They include "cooperation and partnerships involving the ministries of oil and electricity... with ExxonMobil, KBR, GE Vernova, Shell, and Halliburton," as well as several deals related to the construction of a major crude oil pipeline between Iraq and Syria.

Iraq also signed a deal with Starlink, which dominates the global satellite communications sector, to introduce services to the country.

Western energy companies on Friday signed dozens of agreements with Iraqi ‌officials on oil and gas and pipelines as the OPEC member seeks to deepen relations with the U.S. and develop alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz for getting its energy to global markets.

"We are using an open-door policy,"  al-Zaidi said through a translator at a U.S.-Iraq business summit at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce where Iraqi officials and U.S. energy, healthcare and technology companies signed non-binding agreements and memorandums of understanding of more than $60 billion. "Everybody who has a project can ⁠come and talk to us. We will not make it difficult for anyone," al-Zaidi said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a post on X on Saturday: "Honored to welcome Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Zaidi to Washington and witness the signing of over $60 billion in commercial agreements with U.S. energy companies."

"Deepening U.S.-Iraq energy cooperation advances a more secure, prosperous, and energy abundant future for the United States, Iraq, and the world," he added.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has rocked Iraq's neighbouring country and the wider Middle East. Tom Barrack, an envoy to the region for President Donald Trump, said on one hand the war has created chaos and confusion but on the other Iraq is "at the forefront of a new strategic security alliance" with the U.S. and others.

Al-Zaidi visited Chevron's headquarters in Houston on Thursday before Iraqi officials signed agreements with the oil major to advance its potential entry into Iraq's West Qurna 2 and Nassiriya oilfields.

Jake Spiering, a Chevron president of corporate business development, told the Chamber event that his company will be investing in a pipeline to avoid the Strait of Hormuz and create another export route out of Iraq. Such a ‌pipeline could ⁠transport Iraqi oil to the west coast of Syria which is on the Mediterranean Sea.Iraq's exports have been hit hard by the war in part due to the partial closing of the strait through which 20% of the world's oil and gas typically flowed.

In the long term, Spiering said, Iraq's energy potential could make it the Middle East's equivalent of the U.S. energy trading centers known as the Henry Hub natural gas and Cushing ⁠oil hubs.

ConocoPhillips said it had agreed to acquire a 42% stake in BP Energy of Kirkuk Ltd, joining British oil major BP in redeveloping four producing oilfields in northern Iraq.

Meg O'Neill, BP's CEO, said Iraq has "fantastic potential from a resource perspective," and that the partnerships help with Iraqi ⁠and global energy security. BP has a long history in Iraq, having been involved in the discovery of Kirkuk in 1927.

Ryan Lance, the CEO of Conoco, said his company does not have the history BP does in Iraq, but has experience in challenging places like ⁠Alaska's North Slope.

"We are anxious to bring our technology, our know-how, our people, and our capital to help the Iraqi people," Lance said.

Zaidi, on a five-day trip to the U.S., met Trump at the White House on Tuesday, who said the U.S. would be doing a lot of deals with Iraq, creating jobs for both countries.

Sources: Iraqi PM's Media Office, Reuters



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