By Anas al-Bar | 2024-11-07

Iraq has taken steps to attract US investors back to its energy sector, with US encouragement, because of their reliability and enormous potential to help it develop its infrastructure, experts told Al-Fassel.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani reiterated Iraq's support for a sustainable economic partnership with the United States during a September meeting with investment companies in New York focused on the energy sector.

Al-Sudani also visited the United States in April, where he signed a number of deals with US companies to increase gas production and cut down on gas flaring in Iraq, per S&P Global.

Al-Sudani has pledged to achieve energy independence from Iran by 2030.

US companies provide Iraq with an opportunity to diversify its sources of investment, economist Abdul Rahman al-Mashhadani told Al-Fassel.

Iraq "opens its arms to all investment companies in all sectors," he said, adding that "investment diversity means diversity in expertise and development of the work and services environment, which reflects positively on the country."

China seeks to dominate

Iraq does not want China to monopolize the energy market by dominating investment contracts, he said, as happened with the fifth and sixth licensing rounds the Iraqi government launched in May to develop 29 oil and gas fields.

"Chinese companies obtained the largest share of investments, as they won development contracts for 12 projects out of 14 that were contracted during the two rounds," al-Mashhadani said.

China has sought to move into Iraq after many international investment companies withdrew from energy projects due to the ongoing threats posed by Iran-backed militias, experts said.

The Beijing and Tehran regimes have a close alliance, they noted, meaning Chinese investment firms are not hindered by the same security risks.

The US is "laser-focused" on bringing US companies to Iraq to rebuild its energy sector and keep Chinese investors and Iranian hegemony at bay, Forbes magazine reported October 7.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan-Ghani visited Washington in September to present 10 oil and gas exploration projects to US energy companies in a bid to secure investment.

"This move aligns with Iraq’s goal of enhancing domestic gas production and achieving greater energy independence from nearby Iran, from which it relies heavily for electricity generation," The Media Line reported.