Iraq signs 48 agreements with US firms during Washington visit
Baghdad announced energy, technology and health deals worth more than $60bn as it seeks new export routes and closer US business ties.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Iraq signed 48 agreements with US companies and institutions during Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s visit to Washington, his office said Saturday. The package matters for Baghdad because it includes energy projects aimed at expanding oil exports and reducing reliance on the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iraqi leader’s media office said the agreements included memoranda of understanding, cooperation agreements and partnership declarations involving public and private entities in both countries. Reuters reported that the initial agreements span energy, health care and technology and are worth more than $60bn.
The accords were signed Friday at a US-Iraq business summit held at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, according to Reuters. Al-Zaidi told the summit that Iraq was using an “open-door policy” and said anyone with a project could approach the government.
Energy companies feature heavily
Al-Zaidi’s office said the package includes cooperation and partnership arrangements involving Iraq’s oil and electricity ministries with ExxonMobil, KBR, GE Vernova, Shell and Halliburton. The office also said several of the deals relate to construction of a major crude oil pipeline connecting Iraq and Syria.
Iraq also signed a deal with Starlink to introduce satellite communications services in the country, according to the prime minister’s office. Starlink is a leading company in global satellite communications.
The agreements come as Baghdad looks for export options beyond the Strait of Hormuz. Al Jazeera has reported that shipping and oil exports through the waterway have been heavily disrupted during the US-Israel war against Iran.
Pipeline plan would link Kirkuk to the Mediterranean
Iraq and Syria signed a cooperation agreement to rebuild the long-inactive Iraq-Syria oil pipeline, according to the Iraqi government and US officials. The route runs from the Kirkuk oil region in northern Iraq to Syria’s Mediterranean port of Baniyas.
Iraq’s state news agency reported that Chevron would carry out the pipeline project under the agreement. The US Department of State said it welcomed the Iraqi-Syrian plan and said a “US-led international consortium” would handle technical and financial work on the project.
The State Department said the restored pipeline would initially be able to move 2 million barrels per day of crude oil. It described the project as a key energy corridor linking Iraqi production to Mediterranean export markets and other destinations.
Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkiye, said Iraq’s latest pipeline agreements would lead to a program “that will make the Strait of Hormuz an afterthought.”
Chevron also signed two other agreements with Iraq focused on increasing oil production, Jake Spiering, the company’s president of corporate business development, said. Those agreements were separate from the Syria pipeline plan, according to his comments reported by Reuters.
The Washington visit gave al-Zaidi a platform to court US investment across several sectors while advancing a long-discussed export route through Syria. The announced deals remain preliminary, according to Reuters, and would require further steps before projects such as the pipeline rehabilitation can move from agreement to execution.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.