Iraq signs joint operation agreement with France's TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy LNG

CAIRO, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Iraq's oil ministry signed a joint operation agreement with France's TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy LNG and Iraq's Basra Oil Company, the Iraqi prime minister's office said on Sunday.

The deal is for the operation of the Artawi oilfield, as part of the Gas Growth Integrated Project.

The GGIP, an initiative between QatarEnergy, TotalEnergies and Basra Oil Company, aims to improve Iraq's electricity supply, including by recovering flared gas at three oilfields and using the gas to supply power plants, helping to reduce Iraq's import bill. It also includes renewable energy projects.

In a statement shortly after, QatarEnergy said the company's CEO and state minister for energy Saad al-Kaabi met Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne on Sunday to announce the start of construction of the second phase of the Artawi oil field development project and the Common Seawater Supply Project.

The CSSP is set to process and transport 5 million barrels of seawater per day to the main oil fields in southern Iraq, according to the Qatari statement.

Separately, the Iraqi prime minister's office said TotalEnergies signed a deal with Turkey's ENKA construction company to establish a central oil and gas processing facility in Iraq with a daily production capacity of 210,000 barrels of oil and 163 million standard cubic feet of gas.

TotalEnergies and China's Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corp signed an agreement to build a gas processing plant in southern Iraq with a total capacity of 600 million standard cubic feet per day, the prime minister's office said.

The French company also reached a deal with South Korea's Hyundai Engineering and Construction to construct a seawater treatment plant in southern Iraq with a design capacity of 7.5 million barrels per day.

In his remarks during the event, Sudani welcomed the growth of foreign investments in the country.