meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Iraq’s energy sector steadily expands

15 May 2023

MEED's latest coverage on Iraq's energy projects market includes:

> PIPELINE STOPPAGE: Turkiye yet to respond to Iraqi oil request
> CHEMICALS: Iraq continues technical studies for $8bn chemical project
> UPSTREAM DEVELOPERS: No place like Iraq for international oil firms
> OIL TRAINS: Key Iraq oil project units arriving in third quarter
> GAS: Iraq gas project on track for commissioning this year
> INVESTMENT: Total deal could lead to project boom in Iraq
> RUMAILA FIELD: BP and PetroChina prepare to award Iraq oil contract

 

Iraq's oil and gas projects market has steadily expanded over recent months, with the total value of the country's active oil, gas and chemical projects rising by nine per cent since the start of 2020.

As of 2 May 2023, Iraq’s active oil, gas and chemical projects were worth an estimated $143.9bn, up from $132.2bn on 7 January 2020, according to data collected by the regional project-tracking service MEED Projects.

Over the period, in nominal terms, the country’s energy project market expanded by $11.7bn, which is far larger than some of its regional competitors, but also lagging behind some key markets that are continuing to see a dramatic expansion in project activity.

In terms of energy project market expansion, Iraq has outperformed countries such as Algeria, Kuwait and Libya.

Countries that have performed far better than Iraq include Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Over the period, energy project activity has surged in Saudi Arabia, which overtook Iraq to become the region’s largest market for hydrocarbon projects in mid-2022.

Since the start of January 2020, the total value of Saudi Arabia’s active oil, gas and chemical projects has increased by $61.3bn, rising from $112.7bn to $174.1bn.

Over the same period, the total value of Egypt’s active oil, gas and chemical projects sector has expanded by $46.6bn, according to MEED Projects, rising to $136.1bn.

Nations such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt have made ground on Iraq in terms of the size of their energy project markets, partly by taking advantage of Europe’s efforts to shift away from Russian energy imports.

They are also investing in hydrocarbon and chemical technologies that will likely see increased demand during the ongoing global energy transition, such as upstream gas production, the production of the precursors to plastics, and ammonia production.

Political uncertainty

While Iraq has seen its energy projects market steadily expand, it has missed out on the dramatic growth seen in Saudi Arabia and Egypt due to a range of factors.

A key factor that has hobbled Iraq’s expansion over recent years has been political instability and an inability to make critical policy decisions regarding the country’s economy.

In 2022, the caretaker government failed to pass a budget amid political wrangling. The interim parliament, which had limited access to funds, passed a $17bn emergency package called the Food Security and Development Bill, but was not mandated to make important decisions about major projects.

Multi-year budget

From a political perspective, there is reason to be more optimistic about Iraq’s ability to make future investment decisions due to the finalisation of a three-year budget law in March this year.

A draft budget of ID197.82tn ($152.17bn) was announced for 2023, with an agreed operational expenditure of ID150.27tn ($115.59bn), and an investment expenditure of ID47.55tn ($36.58bn).

The budget is drafted to allow it to be repeated in 2024 and 2025. It is the first time an Iraqi government has drafted a multi-year budget, having typically passed one-year budgets.

Ahead of the budget agreement, Iraq made a string of major project announcements. These include plans to revive the $8bn Nebras petrochemicals complex in Basra.

The multi-year budget should also allow for more strategic projects to pass over the coming months, allowing Iraq to adapt to changing market conditions, including the global energy transition and shifting dynamics in Europe and Asia.

Iraq has already signalled that it is looking to modernise its downstream oil sector, improving the complexity of existing refineries and building new facilities.

Gas projects

In terms of gas sector projects, progress will likely be made on existing projects to capture gas from oil fields that would otherwise be flared. More projects of this type could be announced shortly.

Iraq and its international partners are likely to prioritise these projects because they provide increased gas supplies and new revenue streams and have a positive environmental impact.

Iraq-Turkiye tensions

Although the political outlook is improved by the increased certainty regarding annual budgets, the country’s energy projects market could experience growing disruption over the coming months due to tensions between Iraq’s federal government, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and the government of Turkiye.

At the end of March, in the wake of a ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration last month, the oil export pipeline that extends from the north of Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan was shut down.

The pipeline is a key export route for Iraq. When operating normally, it transports 400,000 barrels a day (b/d) from Iraqi Kurdistan and 70,000 b/d from the rest of Iraq.

On 4 April in Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani and the Prime Minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, signed a temporary agreement designed to restart oil exports from the north of the country.

Despite this, after more than a month, oil exports via the pipeline are yet to resume.

The lengthy stoppage and lack of clarity over when exports will recommence have cast a shadow across Iraq’s oil sector, forcing oil fields in the north of the country to seal wells and stop production and putting the future of planned upstream projects in doubt.

While there remains a cause for concern regarding political stability in Iraq, the fundamentals for the country’s oil and gas sector remain sound.

Iraq's state-owned oil companies and their international partners have shown in the past that they can negotiate difficult political and security situations, and the country will likely be able to continue to steadily grow its energy projects market over the months to follow.

MEED's June 2023 special report on Iraq includes:

> GOVERNMENT: Sudani makes fitful progress as Iraq's premier
> ECONOMY: Iraq hits the spend button
> POWER: Iraq power projects make headway
> UPSTREAM DEVELOPERS: No place like Iraq for international oil firms
> CHEMICALS: Iraq continues technical studies for $8bn chemical project
> SOLAR: Total continues 1GW Iraq solar talks
> TRANSPORT: Baghdad approves funds for metro and airport projects

 

 

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/10825124/main.gif
Wil Crisp

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Contract award nears for Saudi Defence Ministry headquarters

    10 December 2025

     

    Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry (MoD) is preparing to award the contract to build a new headquarters building, as part of its P-563 programme in Riyadh.

    MEED understands that bid evaluation has reached advanced stages and the contract award is imminent.

    The MoD issued the tender in April. The commercial bids were submitted in September, as MEED reported.

    Located to the northwest of Riyadh, the P-563 programme includes the development of facilities and infrastructure to support the MoD’s broader initiatives under the kingdom’s Vision 2030 strategy.

    It covers the construction of:

    • A new military city featuring the MoD headquarters, support and logistics facilities, a residential and commercial community and space for future command centres
    • A National Defence University with a library, conference centre and academic buildings
    • A self-sustaining Joint Forces Command compound located approximately 50 kilometres from the military city

    The budget for the entire programme is expected to be $10bn-$12bn.

    In September 2023, MEED reported that Spain-headquartered Typsa had won two contracts for the project.

    The first contract, worth $11.4m, included data management, geographic information systems management, geotechnical reporting and the preparation of the phase one final traffic report. The contract duration was 270 days from the notice to proceed.

    The second contract, valued at $10.8m, involved preparing four conceptual masterplans for the P-563 site. It was set to last 255 days from the notice to proceed.

    These followed a $290m consultancy contract awarded to Typsa in March of the same year. The single-award task order covered a three-year base period, with an optional two-year extension.

    Typsa’s scope of work included programme management planning, communications, change and quality management and cost and schedule tracking.

    It also included design requirements, codes, standards and submission requirements, programme guidance, study integration, risk analysis and management, design reviews and a programme-of-work breakdown plan.

    READ THE DECEMBER 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Prospects widen as Middle East rail projects are delivered; India’s L&T storms up MEED’s EPC contractor ranking; Manama balances growth with fiscal challenges

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the December 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

    > BAHRAIN MARKET FOCUS: Manama pursues reform amid strain
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15222401/main.gif
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Firms prepare Riyadh government office PPP bids

    10 December 2025

     

    Firms are preparing to submit bids for a contract covering the construction of the Riyadh administrative office for Defence Ministry (MoD) personnel.

    The clients have asked firms to submit their bids by 26 March 2026.

    The MoD is developing the project in collaboration with Saudi Arabia's National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP). 

    The project will be implemented under a design, build, finance and maintain contract with a term of 27.5 years.

    The administrative complex, located in the north of Riyadh, will cover about 52,793 square metres. It will accommodate 4,500 employees and provide 3,200 parking spaces.

    In September, the NCP announced the prequalified bidders for the project. These include:

    • Tamasuk / Alghanim International (local/Kuwait)
    • Mota-Engil / Tatweer Buildings Company / Alternative Resources Investments (Portugal/local/UAE)
    • Albawani / Areic (local/local)
    • Bonyan Real Estate Investment / Artar (local/local)
    • FCC / IHCC (Spain/local)
    • Vision Invest (local)
    • Own Real Estate (local)
    • Alfanar (local)
    • Lamar Holding (local)
    • Alyamama (local)
    • El-Seif Engineering Contracting (local)
    • Al-Kifah Holding Company (local)
    • Alargan (Kuwait) 
    • Asyad (Oman)

    The NCP and MoD started the expression of interest and request for qualification process for the project in May, as MEED reported.

    According to an official statement, "the selected private-sector partner will be responsible for the design, construction and long-term maintenance of the facilities and supporting infrastructure, as well as coordination with stakeholders and obtaining all necessary permits".

    The value of public-private partnership (PPP) contracts in Saudi Arabia has risen sharply over the past few years as the government seeks to develop projects through the private sector and diversify funding sources.

    PPPs have been used in Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC region for over two decades, but have been mainly limited to power generation and water desalination plants, where the developer benefits from guaranteed take-or-pay power-purchase agreements that eliminate demand risk.

    However, in the past three years, the government has successfully implemented PPPs in several new sectors, including education and healthcare, to finance, build and operate schools and hospitals. Forthcoming PPP projects include the estimated $2.5bn Asir-Jizan highway, which would be the first road concession in the GCC; the multibillion-dollar contract to develop the expansion of Abha International airport; and the Qiddiya high-speed rail scheme.

    Outside the utilities sector, the NCP has more than 170 PPPs in the pipeline, covering long-term concession agreements in projects as diverse as municipal laboratories, television and radio tower infrastructure, court complexes and logistics zones.

    As capital expenditure continues to increase, the NCP is expected to add dozens more PPPs to its future pipeline to relieve the state’s financial burden and to stimulate the private sector’s involvement in the local projects market.

    READ THE DECEMBER 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Prospects widen as Middle East rail projects are delivered; India’s L&T storms up MEED’s EPC contractor ranking; Manama balances growth with fiscal challenges

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the December 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

    > BAHRAIN MARKET FOCUS: Manama pursues reform amid strain
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15222216/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Municipality seeks consultants for Dubailand drainage project

    10 December 2025

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Dubai Municipality has invited consultants to prequalify for a contract to provide supervision services on a major drainage infrastructure project serving developed communities in Dubailand.

    The sewerage and stormwater drainage project, listed under the code DS-204-S1, is being procured through the government’s Sewerage and Recycled Water Projects Department (SRPD).

    The bid submission deadline is 8 January.

    The consultancy contract follows the issuance in November of the related construction package, DS-204-C1, for which the municipality invited contractors to prequalify.

    The scope includes sewage gravity pipelines with diameters of up to 2,200mm, a sewage lift station with a capacity of three cubic metres a second, and a 1,400mm-diameter sewage rising main that will take pumped sewage from the lift station to the main sewer network.

    The bid submission deadline for the construction package is also 8 January 2026.

    The tenders form part of Dubai’s wider investment in sewerage expansion, including the $8bn Tasreef programme, for which several projects have moved into the execution phase in recent months.

    Once completed, the Tasreef system is expected to increase Dubai’s overall drainage capacity by about 700% and provide daily stormwater treatment capacity exceeding 20 million cubic metres.

    READ THE DECEMBER 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Prospects widen as Middle East rail projects are delivered; India’s L&T storms up MEED’s EPC contractor ranking; Manama balances growth with fiscal challenges

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the December 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

    > BAHRAIN MARKET FOCUS: Manama pursues reform amid strain
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15218750/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Riyadh prepares Qiddiya National Athletics Stadium tender

    9 December 2025

     

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Saudi gigaproject developer Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) is expected to float a tender soon for the construction of the estimated SR7bn ($1.8bn) National Athletics Stadium at its Qiddiya entertainment city development.

    MEED understands that the prequalification process has reached an advanced stage and the tender for the main contract is likely to be issued within a few weeks.

    The multipurpose stadium will cover an area of approximately 182,000 square metres and its design is inspired by the London Olympic Stadium.

    In September, MEED exclusively reported that QIC had begun the procurement process for the kingdom’s next major sporting destination, having received expressions of interest from contractors for the project.

    UK-based HOK is the project’s lead design consultant. It is supported by Canadian engineering firm WSP and Germany’s Schlaich Bergermann Partner.

    UK-headquartered WT Partnership is serving as the project’s cost consultant.

    The stadium will be located within the Qiddiya Sports Park cluster and is expected to be completed by 2030.

    In December 2020, Saudi Arabia was selected to host the 2034 Asian Games. The 22nd edition of the event will be held in Riyadh from 29 November to 14 December 2034.

    Saudi Arabia is also set to host the Asian Winter Games in 2029. In October 2022, the Trojena development at Neom, in the northwest of the country, was selected to host the ninth edition of the event.

    The National Athletics Stadium is one of several major projects within the wider Qiddiya development. Others include an e-games arena, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Stadium, a performing arts centre, a motorsports track, Dragon Ball and Six Flags theme parks and Aquarabia waterpark.

    The project is a key part of Riyadh’s strategy to boost leisure tourism in the kingdom. According to UK analytics firm GlobalData, leisure tourism in Saudi Arabia has experienced significant growth in recent years.

    Domestic leisure tourism trips increased to 33.76 million in 2023, up from 16.74 million in 2018. International tourist arrivals for recreational purposes increased by 600% from 2018 to 2023.

    Image: Buro Happold

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15217660/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Contractors submit prices to Adnoc Gas for Ruwais NGL project

    9 December 2025

     

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Contractors have submitted commercial proposals to Adnoc Gas for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work as part of a design‑update competition for a project to install a fifth natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionation train at its Ruwais gas processing facility in Abu Dhabi.

    The fifth NGL fractionation train will have an output capacity of 22,000 tonnes a day (t/d), or about 8 million tonnes a year.

    Adnoc Gas, the natural gas processing business of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Group), has adopted the design-update competition model to deliver the Ruwais NGL Train 5 project, MEED previously reported.

    The design-update competition model involves the project operator selecting contractors to execute front-end engineering design (feed) work on the project. The operator selects the contractor with the most competitive feed proposal to execute EPC works on the project, while also compensating the other contestants for their work.

    According to sources, contractors participating in the design-update competition for the Ruwais NGL Train 5 project submitted commercial bids for EPC works by the deadline of 8 December.

    The previous deadline for price submissions was 30 November, sources said.

    Adnoc Gas previously asked contractors to submit their feed technical proposals for the project in September.

    In January, MEED reported that Adnoc Gas had selected the following contractors to participate in the design-update competition for the Ruwais NGL Train 5 project:

    • JGC Corporation (Japan)
    • Technip Energies (France)
    • Tecnimont (Italy)

    MEED previously reported that participants had submitted technical proposals for feed work on 6 October.

    The scope of work on the Ruwais NGL Train 5 project covers the EPC of the following units:

    • NGL fractionation plant with a capacity of 22,000 t/d, including NGL fractionation facilities, downstream treatment units, sulphur recovery units, products storage, loading facilities and associated utilities, flares and interconnection pipelines with existing facilities
    • Two propane liquefied petroleum gas storage tanks and one paraffinic naphtha storage tank
    • Buildings – a central control building, outstations, substations and plant amenities
    • Electrical power connections. Power is to be sourced from the nearby Transco substation via a direct underground cable to the plot location.

    Adnoc Gas requires the feed on the project to be updated based on the design of Ruwais NGL Train 4, which has an output capacity of 27,000 t/d and was commissioned in 2014.

    In December 2021, MEED reported that Adnoc Gas, then operating as Adnoc Gas Processing, had awarded Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro Hydrocarbon Engineering the main contract for a project to enhance the capacity of its NGL trains 1-4 at the Ruwais complex.

    ALSO READ: Adnoc Gas capex budget to rise to $28bn by 2029

    Adnoc Gas business

    Adnoc Group announced the creation of Adnoc Gas through the merger of its subsidiaries Adnoc Gas Processing and Adnoc LNG in November 2022. Adnoc Gas began operating as a commercial entity on 1 January 2023.

    The consolidation of Adnoc’s gas processing and liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations into Adnoc Gas has created one of the world’s largest gas-processing entities, with a processing capacity of about 10 billion standard cubic feet of gas a day across eight onshore and offshore sites, which include its Asab, Bab, Bu Hasa, Habshan and Ruwais plants.

    The company also owns a 3,250-kilometre (km) gas pipeline network to supply feedstock to its customers in the UAE. This sales gas pipeline network is being expanded to over 3,500km through the estimated $3bn Estidama project.

    The company will also acquire its parent Adnoc Group’s 60% share in the Ruwais LNG terminal project at cost in the second half of 2028. UK energy producer BP, Japan’s Mitsui & Co, UK-based Shell and French energy producer TotalEnergies are the other shareholders in the project, holding 10% stakes each.

    Adnoc Gas share sale

    In February 2025, Adnoc Group completed a marketed offering of approximately 3.1 billion shares in Adnoc Gas, raising $2.8bn from the exercise.

    The offering consisted of 3,070,056,880 shares, representing 4% of the issued and outstanding share capital of Adnoc Gas.

    Following the marketed offering of shares, Adnoc Group continues to hold the majority 86% of shares in Adnoc Gas.

    The parent entity listed 5% of Adnoc Gas’ shares on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in March 2023, in an initial public offering from which it raised about $2.5bn.

    Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) owns the remaining 5% shares in Adnoc Gas.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15217598/main2533.jpg
    Indrajit Sen