SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi oil ministry denied a report that there had been any issues in executing an energy deal with France’s TotalEnergies.
Reuters cited three Iraqi oil ministry and industry sources as saying that the $27-billion deal between Iraq and TotalEnergies had stalled amid disputes over terms and risks being scrapped by the country’s new government.
“This agreement needs time to be realized and cannot be carried out in tight time frames,” the Iraqi oil ministry said in a statement, according to Reuters.
The oil ministry said agreements on the method of TotalEnergies’s funding under the deal still need to be made.
Total agreed last year to invest in four oil, gas and renewables projects in Basra province over 25 years.
The two sides signed the deal in September 2021, following a visit from French President Emmanuel Macron.
