By Ahmed Mousa Jiyad. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.
Preliminary Assessment of MoO-Chevron Agreements
On February 23, 2026, the Ministry of Oil (MoO) website published a very brief statement indicating the signing of bilateral and trilateral settlement and framework agreements with the Russian company Lukoil and the American company Chevron, concerning a group of oil fields and exploration blocks.
Due to the limited information provided by the MoO statement, and the complete lack of transparency adopted by the Ministry under the current government regarding this matter, this initial assessment was prepared based on available information and continuous monitoring of developments in the oil sector and the fields covered by these agreements. The assessment revealed significant ambiguity and a lack of clarity, raising "what if" questions and complex implementation dilemmas, as well as a high probability of changes to existing contracts and the adoption of new contracts favouring the American company.
The economic rationale behind the agreements is questionable, and the continued marginalization of national efforts in developing upstream petroleum causes deep concern. It should be emphasized that the findings of this assessment are highly subject to change should sufficient and accurate information regarding these agreements become available. For legal reasons, questions are being raised here, not accusations.
The first part of this contribution identifies the subject matter and content of the signed agreements, while the second part provides essential background information and raises important questions. The third part discusses and analyses each of the four agreements, and the fourth part offers additional and concluding remarks.
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Mr Jiyad is an independent development consultant, scholar and Associate with the former Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES), London. He was formerly a senior economist with the Iraq National Oil Company and Iraq's Ministry of Oil, Chief Expert for the Council of Ministers, Director at the Ministry of Trade, and International Specialist with UN organizations in Uganda, Sudan and Jordan. He is now based in Norway (Email: mou-jiya(at)online.no, Skype ID: Ahmed Mousa Jiyad). Read more of Mr Jiyad's biography here.
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