ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s government and companies on Wednesday signed 18 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with American firms in various fields, notably oil, gas and automobile manufacturing, as part of their trip to Washington. A senior Iraqi delegation, led by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, on Saturday arrived in Washington. They have held many meetings with American officials, including a meeting between Sudani and US President Joe Biden. The Iraqi government signed four MoUs with American companies with the aim of developing Iraq’s energy sector, developing and enhancing “strategic plans for oil fields and associated gas,” manufacturing of specialized vehicles, read a statement from Sudani’s office on Thursday. Several Iraqi companies, accompanying Sudani in the trip, also signed 14 MoUs with their American counterparts in various fields, primarily oil, gas and automobile manufacturing. The Iraqi delegation on Monday signed MoUs with the American government to capture flared gas and transform it into electricity. Iraq is still one of the world’s largest gas flaring countries. The flaring process is when oil wells burn the excess gas they can't store or use, and is a convenient way to deal with the waste product known as associated petroleum gas, however, the process is among the main reasons for global climate change. The World Bank estimates that Iraq flares around 17 billion cubic meters of gas every year, worth around $8 billion annually. The practice causes severe environmental damage and remains a serious risk to the well-being of people living close to flaring sites, from Basra to the Kurdistan Region, where refugee camps are particularly vulnerable locations. During their meeting in the Oval Office on Monday, Biden and Sudani reaffirmed their commitment to comprehensive bilateral cooperation in line with the Strategic Framework Agreement, including political, economic, and security cooperation. The Strategic Framework Agreement came into effect in 2009 and seeks to normalize Baghdad-Washington relations through long-term bilateral economic, diplomatic, cultural, and security cooperation.
