Shafaq News- Baghdad

A consortium including Egypt’s Nasr General Contracting Company, a subsidiary of Hassan Allam Holding, and China’s EBS has launched a $71 million residential and logistics complex project for Iraq’s Midland Oil Company aimed at strengthening the country’s energy infrastructure.

During a foundation stone-laying ceremony, Ahmed Al-Mahmoudy, CEO and managing director of Nasr General Contracting, indicated that the company’s operations in Iraq reached around $123 million over the past year, including bridge rehabilitation projects in Mosul and road and intersection development works in Baghdad. Discussions continue over additional infrastructure and transport projects linked to the oil sector, he added.

The project comes as Iraq seeks to expand oil production capacity amid intensifying competition in global energy markets. Data published by S&P Global Energy in January 2026 indicated that Iraq is expected to bring one of the world’s largest new oil field developments online this year, adding substantial crude supplies to markets increasingly shaped by production growth outside the OPEC+ alliance.

Oil remains the backbone of Iraq’s economy, generating more than 90% of government revenue. As the second-largest producer in OPEC+, Iraq pumps around 4.4 million barrels per day.

Earlier this year, the Iraqi Drilling Company announced the drilling and rehabilitation of 237 oil wells nationwide in 2025, stressing Baghdad’s focus on expanding upstream capacity despite repeated calls for broader economic diversification.

Read more: Iraq’s oil bottleneck: Abundance trapped by dependency