Iraq must offer companies interested in its oilfield “integrated projects” that also include refining and petrochemicals, the OPEC member’s Prime Minister has said.

Mohammed Al-Sudani told Oil Ministry officials during a meeting on Monday that upstream projects are not sufficient to support Iraq’s economy as the country is already one of the world’s largest oil producers.

In his comments, published by the official news agency on Tuesday, Sudani urged the Ministry to push ahead with plans to expand oil refineries and build new units to ensure self-sufficiency in petroleum products and slash imports.

“During the meeting which was held to discuss investments in Iraq’s oil sector, the Prime Minister stressed the need for the Oil Ministry to offer integrated projects to investors in the country’s oilfields,” the agency said.

“He emphasized that such projects must include, besides the upstream industry, petrochemicals, refining, gas, fertilizers, chemicals and electricity.”

Sudani also instructed the Ministry to accelerate plans to award more gas concessions to foreign firms to develop untapped associated gas fields to ensure enough supplies for Iraq’s power facilities and end reliance on gas imports, the report added.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

Subscribe to our Projects' PULSE newsletter that brings you trustworthy news, updates and insights on project activities, developments, and partnerships across sectors in the Middle East and Africa.