French Energy Company Total Invests 31 Trillion Won in Iraq, 'Largest Ever'

Initial Investment of 11 Trillion Won
Dependence on Iran Expected to Decrease

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] French global energy company Total has signed a contract with the Iraqi government to invest $27 billion (approximately 31 trillion KRW) in Iraq over the next 25 years. This is considered the largest investment ever made by a foreign company in Iraq.

On the 5th (local time), according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and others, the contract was signed in Baghdad in the presence of Patrick Pouyann?, CEO of Total, and Ihsan Abdul Jabbar, Iraq's Minister of Oil. Patrick Pouyann?, Total CEO, stated that "the initial investment alone will be around $10 billion," and added that engineering work will begin immediately.

Ihsan Abdul Jabbar, Iraq's Minister of Oil, said, "This is the largest investment made by a Western company in Iraq."

This contract is expected to significantly improve Iraq's power supply capacity. Until now, Iraq has faced serious power outages causing social unrest, and to resolve this, it has been courting foreign investors to expand oil production and natural gas development.

In particular, this investment will greatly reduce Iraq's dependence on Iran. Minister Jabbar revealed that Total will also support $2 billion for the construction of gas production plants at oil fields such as West Qurna, Majnoon, Atawi, Tuba, and Luhais. Iraq has faced multiple pressures from the United States over purchasing gas from Iran, but Total's investment decision is expected to help Iraq reduce its dependence on Iran.

The WSJ reported that Total's investment comes amid major global oil companies restructuring their operations in Iraq. Earlier, British Petroleum (BP) confirmed plans last month to spin off its Iraq operations into an independent entity and established a joint venture with China PetroChina to manage the Rumaila oil field. ExxonMobil was also reported to be negotiating with the Iraqi government to sell its stake in the West Qurna 1 oil field. Chevron signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Iraqi government last year for oil and natural gas drilling in the southern region.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.