TotalEnergies SE and its partners have begun construction for the Ratawi field redevelopment project and a seawater supply project in Iraq, the final components of the country’s over $13 billion Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP).
The GGIP, launched 2023, comprises four projects. The other two involve the recovery of gas flared from three oilfields in southern Iraq for supply to power plants and the building of a solar farm.
Phase I of the Ratawi redevelopment aims to raise the field’s production to 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2026. After the second phase, targeted to be put onstream 2028, Ratawi’s capacity will be 210,000 bpd, according to the French energy giant.
“All 160 Mcfd [million cubic feet a day] of associated gas produced every day will be fully processed thanks to the 300 Mcfd Gas Midstream Project (GMP), whose construction began early 2025”, TotalEnergies said in a statement Monday.
“The GMP, which will also treat previously flared gas from two other fields in southern Iraq, will deliver processed gas into the national grid where it will fuel power plants with a production capacity of approximately 1.5 GW, providing electricity to 1.5 million Iraqi households.
“An early production facility to process 50 Mcfd of associated gas will start early 2026 together with the Ratawi phase I oil production”.
The GGIP’s 1 GWac/1.25 GWp solar component is also expected to start up next year, according to the statement.
Meanwhile the Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP), to be operated by Basra, is designed to process and transport five million bpd of seawater to southern Iraq’s main oilfields. It will rise on the coast near the town of Um Qasr, TotalEnergies said.
“Treated seawater will be substituted for the freshwater currently taken from the Tigris, Euphrates and aquifers to maintain pressure in the oil wells”, it said. “The project will therefore help alleviate water stress in the region and is expected to free up to 250,000 cubic meters of freshwater per day for irrigation and local agriculture needs”.
With the award of contracts for the two projects, “all four parts (natural gas, solar, oil, water) of the GGIP are now in execution phase”, TotalEnergies said.
“The GGIP, a showcase project for TotalEnergies’ multi-energy strategy, aims to sustainably develop Iraq’s natural resources to improve the country’s electricity supply while contributing to its energy independence and reducing its greenhouse gas emissions”.
TotalEnergies chair and chief executive Patrick Pouyanne commented, “All these projects will bring a significant contribution to the Iraq economy and employ during the construction phase 7,000 Iraqi nationals”.
TotalEnergies is operator in the GGIP with a 45 percent stake. Iraq’s state-owned Basra Oil Co holds 30 percent. Qatar’s state-owned QatarEnergy owns 25 percent.
QatarEnergy said separately investments in GGIP have exceeded $13 billion.
Source: By Jov Onsat from Rigzone.com