Iraq signs multiple agreements with U.S. firms, including pipeline revival with Chevron
Iraq and Syria agreed to rebuild a crude oil pipeline from Kirkuk to the Mediterranean, while Iraq also signed deals with U.S. companies in energy, healthcare and technology worth over $60 billion.
Iraq announced a series of agreements with U.S. companies at a business summit in Washington, covering oil production, healthcare and satellite services. The most prominent deal involves Chevron, which will lead the reconstruction of the long-inactive Iraq-Syria crude oil pipeline that runs from the Kirkuk region to the Syrian port of Baniyas on the Mediterranean Sea. The U.S. State Department said the pipeline, once rehabilitated, could initially transport about two million barrels of crude per day and described it as a "critical energy corridor" linking Iraqi output to export markets.
U.S. officials welcomed the plan, with the State Department noting that a U.S.-led international consortium would handle the technical and financial aspects of the project. The U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, said the new pipeline agreements could make the Strait of Hormuz "an afterthought" for Iraqi oil exports.
In addition to the pipeline project, Chevron signed two further agreements aimed at increasing Iraq's oil production, according to the company's corporate business development head, Jake Spiering. Iraq also signed an agreement with Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by SpaceX, to operate formally in the country. Reuters reported that the total value of the initial agreements with U.S. firms exceeds $60 billion.