INOC partners with Total in financing Iraq's largest foreign investment

RIYADH: The Iraq National Oil Company (INOC) will join forces with French Total to deliver a giant energy project in Basra, the country’s Ministry of Oil has revealed.

The Iraqi cabinet signed off on the deal on Tuesday, which will see INOC serve as a financing partner in the arrangement and hold around a 40 percent stake in the partnership.

The government’s approval aims to expand the company’s commercial and financial activity, leading to greater economic returns and solid partnerships with well-known international companies, oil minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar said.

Last September, Iraq signed a $27 billion agreement with Total group to invest in the field of gas and oil as well as the exploitation of solar energy.

The deal represents the largest investment by a foreign company in Iraq, Abdul-Jabbar said.

"A third of the investment funds will be injected over the next seven years," he said.