April 29, 2024 [reuters]- TotalEnergies aims to complete the first phases of a solar power project and an associated gas project in 2025, the Iraqi prime minister’s office said in a statement, citing the company’s chief executive Patrick Pouyanne.

The first phase of the gas project in southern Iraq is expected to initially produce 50 million cubic feet a day (mcf/d) within the next year, the prime minister’s office said.

Iraq seeks to produce much-needed natural gas for power stations and cut imports that put a burden the country’s budget.

The OPEC producer currently relies heavily on Iranian gas imports to feed its power grid.

Last year, Iraq and French oil major TotalEnergies signed a $27 billion energy deal aimed at increasing oil production and boosting the country’s capacity to produce energy with four oil, gas and renewables projects.

Besides raising production at the Ratawi southern oilfield, the deal consists of a 1 GW solar power plant, a 600 mcf/d gas processing facility, and a sea water supply project key to boosting Iraq’s southern oil production.

Iraq flares much of its own gas, extracted alongside crude oil at its fields, because it lacks the facilities to process it into fuel and instead uses Iranian power imports to generate electricity.

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