PM Al-Zaidi seeks gas investment to end imports
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi discussed plans to increase oil and associated gas production with senior executives from France’s TotalEnergies and US energy company ConocoPhillips on Sunday, including investment at the Bin Umar field in Basra.
According to the Prime Minister’s Media Office, Al-Zaidi met TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné and ConocoPhillips President and CEO Andy O’Brien, along with delegations from both companies.
Prime Minister @AliFalihAlzaidy received Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of @TotalEnergies, and Andy O’Brien, President and CEO of @conocophillips, along with their accompanying delegations. During the meeting, discussions focused on mechanisms for developing oil and associated gas resources at the Ibn Omar field in Basra Governorate, establishing timelines for increasing oil and associated gas production from the field, and reviewing efforts to boost production at other fields. The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of utilizing associated gas, given Iraq’s significant potential in this sector. He outlined the government’s vision and plans to fully utilize the country’s gas resources and permanently end gas imports within the next few years. For their part, the two CEOs expressed their willingness to intensify efforts to meet the established timelines for increasing production rates.
— المكتب الإعلامي لرئيس الوزراء 🇮🇶 (@IraqiPMO) October 11, 2026
The talks focused on mechanisms for investing in oil and associated gas at Bin Umar and setting timelines to raise production at the field and other Iraqi oilfields.
Al-Zaidi said Iraq has significant potential in associated gas and that the government aims to fully utilize domestic gas resources and end imports within the next few years.
The two executives expressed readiness to step up efforts to meet the agreed timelines for increasing production.
TotalEnergies is already leading the Gas Growth Integrated Project in southern Iraq, which includes projects to capture associated gas and expand solar power generation.
Former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said in June 2024 that Iraq was utilizing more than 60% of its associated gas and had set a target of eliminating routine gas flaring by 2028.
Iraq holds about 125 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, ranking 11th globally in 2025, according to the Energy Institute’s Statistical Review of World Energy. The country continues to rely heavily on oil revenues to finance public spending, with oil accounting for nearly 88% of federal budget revenues between January and November 2025, while non-oil sources contributed about 12%, according to Finance Ministry data.
