Iraq and China's Geo-Jade sign deal for Tuba oilfield expansion
May 23 (Reuters) - Iraq has signed a contract with a consortium consisting of China-based Geo-Jade Petroleum Corp and Basra Crescent to implement an integrated energy project aimed at ramping up Iraq's Tuba oilfield's production to 100,000 barrels per day from 20,000 barrels.
The South Basra project will also include the construction of a refinery with a capacity of 200,000 barrels, a petrochemical plant and a fertilizer plant, Iraq Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said, describing the project as a "leap" in developing the country's oil wealth.
Geo-Jade Petroleum plans to invest about $848 million in the South Basra integrated project, the company said on Friday.
Geo-Jade Petroleum won a bid last year to develop the Jabal Sanam oil field and the Zurbatiya oil and gas field in Iraq.
Iraq is the second-largest producer within the OPEC+ group that includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia.
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Years of economic dysfunction have left the country's once-thriving middle class in a state of desperation. The World Bank says poverty nearly tripled in Lebanon over the past decade, affecting close to half its population of nearly 6 million. To make matters worse, inflation is soaring, with the Lebanese pound losing 90% of its value, and many families lost their savings when banks collapsed. Tourism is seen by Lebanon's leaders as the best way to kickstart the reconciliation needed with Gulf countries -- and only then can they move on to exports and other economic growth opportunities. 'It's the thing that makes most sense, because that's all Lebanon can sell now,' said Sami Zoughaib, research manager at The Policy Initiative, a Beirut-based think tank. With summer still weeks away, flights to Lebanon are already packed with expats and locals from countries that overturned their travel bans, and hotels say bookings have been brisk. 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Lebanon has been in talks with the International Monetary Fund for years over a recovery plan that would include billions in loans and require the country to combat corruption, restructure its banks, and bring improvements to a range of public services, including electricity and water. Without those and other reforms, Lebanon's wealthy neighbors will lack confidence to invest there, experts said. A tourism boom alone would serve as a 'morphine shot that would only temporarily ease the pain" rather than stop the deepening poverty in Lebanon, Zoughaib said. The tourism minister, Lahoud, agreed, saying a long-term process has only just begun. "But we're talking about subjects we never talked about before,' she said. 'And I think the whole country has realized that war doesn't serve anyone, and that we really need our economy to be back and flourish again.'
