Shafaq News– Basra

Iraq’s Basra is preparing to host a new University for oil and gas, the province’s council confirmed on Saturday, noting that the initiative aims to bolster the country’s energy sector.

Council member Hassan Shaddad Al-Faris told Shafaq News that the Ministry of Planning approved the project under a "design and build" approach. The total cost of 918.2 billion Iraqi dinars ($695 million) will be covered by the country’s oil revenues.

The project comes as Iraq continues to rely heavily on oil to fund public spending. Data from Iraq’s Ministry of Finance showed that the country collected more than 114 trillion dinars ($87 billion) in federal budget revenues from January through November 2025, with oil accounting for nearly 88% of the total —around 100.56 trillion dinars ($76 billion).

Non-oil sources contributed roughly 13.48 trillion dinars ($10 billion), representing the remaining 12% of federal revenues.

Read more: Iraq’s economy in 2025: Oil dominance and delayed reforms