Iraq’s $27B deal with TotalEnergies could ease its longstanding energy crisis, but challenges remain

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB and ABDULRAHMAN ZEYAD
Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) — A multi-billion dollar agreement signed with France’s TotalEnergies could help resolve Iraq’s longstanding electricity crisis. It might also attract international investors and reduce Iraq’s reliance on gas imports from neighboring Iran. But that’s only if the parties implementing the agreement can overcome the endemic corruption and political instability that has undermined Iraq’s oil sector for more than two decades. The $27 billion agreement signed in Baghdad on Monday after years of negotiation marks the largest foreign investment in Iraq’s history. Iraq, an OPEC member with some of the world’s largest oil reserves, nevertheless endures widespread power outages, especially in the scorching summer months. The problem is rooted in its political system.