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Iraq is reportedly preparing to unveil more than $60 billion in energy agreements with major U.S. companies during Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi's visit to the U.S., focusing on oil and gas development, power infrastructure and new oil export routes.
The package of agreements and memorandums of understanding is expected to be announced on Friday at the U.S.-Iraq Business Summit in Washington, where Zaidi is set to meet senior U.S. officials and executives from some of the world's biggest energy companies.
BP and ConocoPhillips are among the companies preparing to announce billions of dollars in new investments in Iraq, people familiar with the plans told CNBC, while details of individual investments were not immediately available.
Chevron is also set to sign memorandums of understanding with the Iraqi government as it explores a potential entry into the West Qurna 2 and Nassiriya oilfields, a senior company executive told Reuters.
The U.S. oil major is also in talks with Baghdad to conduct technical studies and assess potential pipeline routes that could carry Iraqi crude out of the country while bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, the executive added.
Iraq's cabinet earlier approved preliminary agreements allowing a consortium that includes Chevron to study the technical and financial feasibility of the planned Basra-Haditha pipeline and its extensions toward Türkiye's Ceyhan port and Syria's Baniyas port, estimated to cost nearly $5 billion.
Zaidi already met representatives from Halliburton, Shell, Honeywell, Weatherford and Baker Hughes in Houston on Thursday, with talks covering investment, technology and potential involvement in major energy projects.
Zaidi also met ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods at the company's headquarters in Houston, where the two discussed cooperation on increasing Iraq's oil production and export capacity as well as developing new refining projects, the prime minister's office said in a statement.
During the meeting with Woods and members of ExxonMobil's board, the Iraqi prime minister laid out the government's plans to develop the country's oil production and export sectors and called on the company to take part in expanding refining and oil-processing capacity.
Zaidi invited ExxonMobil to pursue long-term investments and partnerships in Iraq and stressed the need to move projects forward quickly.
Baghdad is also working to cut its reliance on imported natural gas used to fuel electricity plants. Capturing gas released during oil production and ending environmentally harmful gas flaring are among the government's priorities.
Iraq also wants to tap ExxonMobil's technology to build new refinery units as the government seeks to generate more revenue from higher-value petroleum products, the statement said.
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