Iraq has appointed a foreign company to manage an oil-for-projects agreement it signed with China in 2019, an Iraqi official has said. 

Baghdad and Beijing finalised the landmark deal in Sept 2019 under which Iraq will supply crude oil to Chinese companies undertaking projects in the Arab country. 

Iraq, OPEC’s second largest oil producer, said the agreement would support its post-war rebuilding plans given its worsening cash shortage due to years of internal conflicts. 

“We have named a company to manage the movement of funds and the execution of the agreement with China,” the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Financial Adviser Mudhar Saleh told the official Iraqi daily Alsabah. 

Saleh, who did not name that firm, disclosed that Chinese companies have recently deposited nearly $1.8 billion in a fund created by the agreement and that the funds would be used by Iraq in financing the planned 1,000 schools as well as infrastructure and renewable power projects. 

Saleh said Iraq and China have agreed to activate the oil-for-projects deal after it was frozen for several months due to the Coronavirus pandemic. 

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Read our full disclaimer policy here.

© ZAWYA 2021