Page 20 - MEOG Annual Review 2021

MEOG SEPTEMBER MEOG

TotalEnergies closes

Iraqi megadeal

The French company has signed a 25-year deal with Iraq that will see it boost oil,
gas and electricity production under an agreement that embraces energy transition.

IRAQ FOLLOWING months of negotiations, France’s the Ratawi oilfield west of Basra from the current
TotalEnergies signed a broad deal in Iraq this 85,000 barrels per day to a peak production level
week that seeks to transform the fortunes of the of 210,000 bpd.
WHAT: country’s energy sector. Signature of a contract It will then invest $2bn to construct the
The deal envisages an had been anticipated since a heads of agreement Ratawi gas complex, which will process associ-
initial $10bn investment, (HoA) was announced in March, but the timing ated gas from the southern oilfields of Ratawi,
with spending likely to could scarcely have been better for Iraq, which West Qurna-2, Majnoon, Tuba and Luhais.
rise to $27bn over the has sought to stem the tide of IOC operators The facility will have a processing capacity of
life of the project, to turn heading for the exit in recent months. 600mn cubic feet (17mn cubic metres) per
revenues of $95bn. CEO Patrick Pouyanne has signed an agree- day to produce around 12,000 bpd of conden-
ment in Baghdad with Iraq’s Ministry of Oil sate and 38,000 bpd of LPG. Iraqi Oil Minister
WHY: (MoO), Ministry of Electricity (MoE) and the Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said that the gas produced
TotalEnergies will country’s National Investment Commission that by TotalEnergies would be cost around $6.50
increase oil output from will see TotalEnergies invest in oil production, per million Btu, less than gas which is currently
the Ratawi field, but the associated gas recovery and processing, the sup- imported from Iran for around $8 per mmBtu.
main elements of the ply of water for raising oil output and a 1-GW The French company will invest $3bn in a sea-
agreement focus on the solar project. water supply facility that has been on the draw-
capture and utilisation of The French company said that engineering ing board since 2010. With the project already
associated gas, seawater work would begin immediately, with the firm delayed by nearly a decade, talks broke down
supply for increased oil making an initial investment of $10bn, but the with previous operator ExxonMobil in 2019.
output and electricity MoO envisages a total investment of $27bn over In its original form, the Common Seawater
generation from solar. the deal’s four projects, estimating the revenues Supply Project (CSSP) was intended to treat
from the 25-year contract at $95bn based on an 2.5mn bpd of seawater from the Gulf and pipe
WHAT NEXT: oil price of $50 per barrel. Pouyanne added that it to major southern oilfields for injection to
The seawater project TotalEnergies would mobilise teams in Iraq by increase the pressure in oil wells and raise pro-
will form a major part of the end of the year. duction levels.
Iraq’s push to raise oil Under the deal with TotalEnergies, the scope
production from 5mn bpd Oil & Gas of the water supply pipeline has been expanded
to 8mn bpd by 2027. According to a statement from the MoO, Total to 5mn bpd, with the capacity of the water treat-
will begin with work to expand the capacity of ment plant designed to be 7.5mn bpd.

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