Saudi Arabia is planning to invest $2.2bn in Iraq’s Ratawi gas hub project, according to industry sources.
US-based Honeywell and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil agreed to work together on the development of the project, which is situated in southern Iraq.
Commercial agreements worth $8bn were reached during a signing function between US energy companies and the government of Iraq during Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s visit to Washington.
US-based companies Honeywell and Bechtel signed a joint memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iraq’s Ministry of Oil for the Ratawi gas hub project in July 2019, but the deal fell apart.
Under the terms of the original MoU, the project would have captured 300 million standard cubic feet a day (SCF/d).
Iraqi electricity minister Luay al-Khateeb said a possible consortium of US-based GE, Iraq-based Uruk, and Saudi Arabia-based Acwa Power and Saudi Aramco could be interested in developing the project.
Both the US and Saudi governments could potentially benefit politically if this project goes ahead, as they both want to see Iraq decrease its dependence on Iranian gas imports.
In May, Saudi Arabia struck a deal with Iraq to boost investment in the development of Iraq’s western Akkas gas field.
The Akkas gas field in Iraq’s largest gas field. It was discovered in 1992 and start production of natural gas and intensify in 1993.
Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Ali Allawi said that his country’s reliance on Iran for gas imports can be decreased over the medium term if the country builds closer ties to Gulf nations.
This article is published by MEED.