With BP’s Megadeal Approved, Is the West Back in Iraq?

Iraq’s Council of Ministers last week approved the final version of BP’s US$25 billion+ contract with the Oil Ministry to develop the Kirkuk oil fields of Baba and Avana, and the neighbouring sites of Bai Hassan, Jumboor and Khabaz. This is the second huge deal signed by Western firms recently, with the other being the US$27 billion four-pronged project of France’s TotalEnergies. It is a remarkable achievement so far, given the steady erosion of the West’s influence across the country in the years following the removal of…