The Ministry of Petroleum seeks to expand its foreign activities through oil and gas production in Iraq, Al Borsa reported. Egyptian public sector companies such as Petrojet and ENPPI will complete work in the country in exchange for shares in production projects.

Mohamed El Masry, Head of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), said that Egypt had a plan to participate in several projects with Iraq in the fields of crude oil refining, production, and imports.

Negotiations are also underway to import volumes of crude oil from Basra, refine it in Egyptian refineries, and distribute its derivatives of petroleum products in the domestic market or export excess products.

Earlier in March, Tarek El Molla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and Adil Abdul Mahdi, Iraqi Oil Minister, signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance mutual cooperation between the two countries in the oil and gas industry. The two ministers pointed out that both countries have the opportunity to cooperate together in order to achieve the desired development and to improve citizens’ standard of living.