President Trump met Iraqi Prime Minister Zaidi on July 14 and said the US and
Iraq had "established a large new oil partnership." Commodity analyst Jack
Prandelli interprets the comment as signaling Western entry into Iraqi upstream
and infrastructure: Chevron is reportedly negotiating to acquire oilfield assets
Formerly operated by Russia's Lukoil, HKN Energy aims for 140,000 bpd at the
Hamrin field, and Halliburton is managing the Bin Umar and Sinbad fields in
southern Iraq. Iraqi officials cite objectives of reducing Strait of Hormuz
exposure and Russian dominance in Iraq’s energy sector and propose a new
pipeline via Turkey to the Mediterranean. Prandelli says the development
reflects US energy leverage extending into crude and infrastructure as well as
gas.
