Chevron plans to sign July 17 agreements with Iraq

Signage outside the Chevron headquarters in Houston. (Mark Felix/Bloomberg)

Chevron Corp. expects to sign accords with Iraq on July 17 that will advance its negotiations about investing in large oil fields and a pipeline to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. 

The agreements are expected to be nonbinding but will show Chevron’s commitment to eventually signing commercial deals for the West Qurna-2 and Nasiriyah fields, a senior company executive said July 16. Chevron is also part of a consortium of U.S. and international companies exploring the potential for building a pipeline that would help Iraq export oil by avoiding the Strait of Hormuz, the executive said. 

Earlier this week, Bloomberg News reported that the company is in talks with a consortium of investors to revive the long-defunct Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline, a 500-mile conduit that runs through Syria to the Mediterranean coast.

MORE: U.S. supports Iraq-Syria pipeline that would bypass Hormuz

Chevron has been in talks about investing in Iraq for more than a year as it seeks to expand its footprint in the Middle East. Its efforts come as President Donald Trump pushes American oil companies to increase production. The Iran war has underscored a need for new export routes that avoid the Persian Gulf, where much ship traffic has been blocked since the conflict began in February. 

Chevron wants to make sure it has access to moving cargoes out to the Mediterranean, the executive said.

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Mark Nelson (center left), vice chairman of Chevron, and Ali al-Zaidi (center right), Iraq's prime minister, during a meeting at Chevron headquarters in Houston on July 16. (Mark Felix/Bloomberg)

West Qurna-2 produces about 460,000 barrels a day and is now 100% owned by state-owned entities after Russian producer Lukoil was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2025. Nasiriyah is a smaller operation but is thought to hold extensive exploration prospects.

Chevron believes there is significant potential to increase production at both West Qurna-2 and Nasiriyah, the senior company executive said. Technical studies still have to be completed on both fields and the pipeline while commercial terms are still a ways from the finish line, the executive said. 

Iraq Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi met with Chevron executives in Houston on July 16 as part of a tour of the U.S. Earlier this week, he met with Trump at the White House. Trump said “massive” new oil partnerships would be announced the coming days. 

“We appreciate the chance to meet with Iraqi leaders and talk about how our expertise in building large oil and gas projects throughout the world can support Iraq as it further develops its abundant energy resources,” Clay Neff, Chevron’s upstream president, said in a statement.

Foreign investment 

OPEC’s second-largest producing member before the war, Iraq was forced to cut oil production more than 60% when exporting vessels were blocked from exiting through the Strait of Hormuz, straining government finances in a country already poorer than some of its neighbors like Kuwait and Qatar. The country wants to attract foreign investment, particularly from the U.S., to expand its oil production and reduce its reliance on the the Persian Gulf choke point. 

Fresh strikes from both the U.S. and Iran over the past week underscored the need for long-term alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, which was again mostly closed to shipping in the past few days after causing the biggest energy supply disruption in history earlier this year. 

Trump backed Al-Zaidi for the post of prime minister in April, believing his main rival — former premier Nouri al-Maliki — was too close to Iran. Al-Zaidi is a political novice, but the White House has expressed hope that he can clamp down on Iran-backed militias in Iraq while opening up the country’s oil sector more to American companies.