DUBAI/LONDON: Qatar is in talks to acquire a stake from French company TotalEnergies’ $27 billion cluster of energy projects in Iraq, three sources told Reuters, as Baghdad hopes to stem efforts by Western energy companies to exit the country. The TotalEnergies deal with Iraq, which will require an initial investment of $10 billion, followed a visit from French President Emmanuel Macron in September 2021. A senior Iraqi oil ministry official said he was not aware of QatarEnergy plans to acquire a stake in the TotalEnergies’ project. One of the sources told Reuters Sudani would also meet TotalEnergies Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne in a bid to end the deadlock. The French and Qatari energy companies have close partnerships in Qatar’s giant liquefied natural gas (LNG) production as well as major energy projects around the world including in Guyana, Namibia and South Africa.
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