The non-binding accords cover two major Iraqi fields and a pipeline consortium that could revive a long-dormant route to the Mediterranean
FREDERIC J. BROWN / Getty Images
Chevron $CVX is set to sign preliminary deals Friday covering stakes in two Iraqi oil fields and membership in a consortium studying a pipeline from Iraq's producing region to Syria's Mediterranean shore, advancing efforts to develop export alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz.
A senior Chevron executive told Bloomberg that the accords, while non-binding, are meant to demonstrate the company's intent to work toward formal commercial agreements on the West Qurna-2 and Nasiriyah fields in southern Iraq. Technical studies on both fields and the pipeline still need to be completed, and the executive said commercial terms remain a long way off.
Among the routes under consideration is restoration of the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline, an approximately 500-mile artery that once carried crude from northern Iraq across Syria to the sea before being knocked out of service during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and left dormant ever since. The group is also considering whether to build a new pipeline or upgrade existing infrastructure connecting to pipelines through Turkey, a senior Chevron official said.
West Qurna-2, situated roughly 40 miles north of Basra, pumps approximately 460,000 barrels daily. The field passed entirely into state hands after Russian producer Lukoil lost its position following U.S. sanctions in 2025, and Chevron moved into exclusive talks for a stake just before the Iran war broke out. Nasiriyah is a less prolific producer, but analysts and company officials believe it offers substantial untapped upside, according to Bloomberg.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi visited Chevron's headquarters in Houston on Thursday to meet with a group led by Chevron Vice Chairman Mark Nelson. Earlier in the week, Al-Zaidi met with President Donald Trump at the White House. "We're going to be doing a lot of deals," Trump said. "We're going to create a lot of jobs for both countries, and we're going to be taking out a lot of oil."
"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.
The Chevron deals are part of a broader U.S.-Iraq business push. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is hosting a U.S.-Iraq Business Summit in Washington on Friday, with Al-Zaidi, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and others in attendance, where $60 billion in deals are expected to be signed.
The Strait of Hormuz has been central to the conflict's economic toll. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth warned earlier this year of impending physical oil shortages tied to the waterway's closure, comparing the disruption's potential scale to the energy crises of the 1970s. Iraq, the Middle East's second-largest oil producer, has seen exports fall sharply since the war began, as its southern fields depend almost entirely on shipping through the strait.
Across the Gulf, governments have committed billions of dollars to pipelines, overland freight corridors, and storage facilities aimed at moving oil away from the chokepoint — infrastructure the Wall Street Journal has characterized as among the most lasting legacies the conflict will leave behind.
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