Doubt cast on Iraq deal with GE and Siemens

• 5 years ago (2019-02-11)
• David Flin

Gas 371 Middle East 310

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Iraq’s Energy Minister Luay Al-Khatteeb has said that the energy deals signed with GE and Siemens last year may not come to fruition. According to the Financial Times , Al-Khatteeb, who took up the post of Energy Minister after the deals had been arranged, said: “I don’t have financial allocations or the processes available at hand, it doesn’t allow me to cherry-pick the right consultancies to deal with these multibillion-dollar deals.”

The agreements signed last year with GE and Siemens were intended to add 14 GW and 11 GW respectively to the Iraq grid. However, Al-Khatteeb pointed out that both companies’ plans are still under review, and that it’s “certainly going to be quite challenging to blindly accept such proposals”. He added that while the agreements were a “step forward”, they are non-binding.

The deals with both GE and Siemens included plans to include LNG-fuelled mobile units to power operations in some of Iraq’s oil fields.

Al-Khatteeb has said that the Energy Ministry wants at least a 15 per cent year-over-year increase this year in power infrastructure, which includes projects to meet a 7 per cent rise in demand for electricity, along with an 8 per cent increase in power generation and upgraded transmission and distribution lines.