Final paperwork expected to be signed Monday between Iraq and TotalEnergies, after which the company will begin to take over the Ratawi oil field operations.
KRG crude exports are still shut in due to the northern pipeline outage, but federal exports have increased further, nearing the maximum capacity of outdated Basra Gulf infrastructure.
The Malaysian company wants to sell its stake to Pertamina due to late payments and low profit margins.
Political scrutiny of a contract is delaying a subsea pipeline project with the potential to lift export capacity by 500,000 bpd in a year.
Ankara sent a technical delegation to Baghdad but the two sides seem far from the top-level political agreement needed to restart oil flows.
Northern pipeline outage gives Baghdad leeway for southern output increases despite tightened OPEC-plus quotas.
Another new contracting round builds on recent momentum to attract investors and raise domestic gas supplies.
Iraq's oil marketing chief discusses Russia-related oil market dynamics, the restart of Qayarah crude exports, and recent steps to activate the TotalEnergies mega-deal.
New budget law appears to represent a rejection of the recent Baghdad-Erbil political deals that had sought to balance oil and financial authorities.
Upset about provisions in Iraq's draft budget law, refinery employees are shutting down tanker traffic and threatening a crippling fuel shortage.
