Iraq has received major investment from China via the Belt and Road Initiative
Baghdad steps up energy self-sufficiency drive
Soaring oil revenues and heavy Chinese investment have driven a series of recent refining and gas deals
Chinese state-owned heavy industry conglomerate Powerchina is a credible actor. So its mid-January claim to have been awarded an $880mn, 54-month EPC contract for a new refinery in Iraq’s southeastern Maysan province appears to be further evidence of renewed impetus for a refining capacity build-out in the country, driven by windfall crude revenues and Beijing’s seemingly inexhaustible appetite for deeper commercial ties. But the details are slightly more complicated. The contract has apparently been awarded by Missan International Refinery & Chemical Company—the name previously given to a consortium formed in 2016 to develop a 150,000bl/d downstream plant at Maysan, which had been assum
Also in this section
19 January 2026
Newfound optimism is emerging that a dormant exploration frontier could become a strategic energy play and—whisper it quietly—Europe’s next offshore opportunity
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
