Iraq will formally sign an agreement with France’s TotalEnergies for multi-billion-dollar gas development projects within a few days, the country’s Oil Minister has said.

The projects involve the development of nearly 600 million cubic metres of associated gas and a number of oilfields in the Southern Basra governorate, Hayan Abdel Ghani said.

He told the official gazette in comments published on Wednesday by Aliqtisad News website that the contract follows an agreement between the two countries during a visit to Paris in January by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani.

“We will sign the gas agreement with TotalEnergies within the next few days,” Abded Ghani said, adding that a key project involves gathering and processing gas in a number of fields in South Iraq, where large gas quantities are flared and wasted.

In April, Iraq and TotalEnergies announced they have reached an agreement to move forward with a “gas growth” project initially signed in 2021, with the French giant and its partners set to invest $10 billion.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)