QatarEnergy announced its agreement to acquire a 25% stake in the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP), a massive gas project in Iraq, marking the rare entry of a major producer into a market that Western firms have pulled back from in recent years, AP reported

TotalEnergies introduced GGIP in 2021 with the goal of creating infrastructure to recover natural gas from a number of hydrocarbon fields in southern Iraq. When the natural gas released during oil production is burned and released into the atmosphere, that is where it is presently being “flamed.” In order to increase output, the project also seeks to treat seawater for injection into oil reservoirs.

Iraq’s Basra Oil Company controls 30% of the project, with TotalEnergies holding a 45% stake. According to QatarEnergies, the initiative will have total investments of about $10 billion.

“We are pleased to be part of this significant development, which is important for Iraq’s energy sector,” Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs and head of QatarEnergy, said in a statement.