France’s Total will build four giant energy projects in southern Iraq under a $27 billion deal signed in Baghdad on Sept. 5, the country’s oil minister said.

The company will start with an initial investment of $10 billion, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said at the signing ceremony, adding that engineering work will start “immediately.”

The plan is to mobilize teams in Iraq by the end of 2021, he said.

Iraqi oil minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said the first phase will include a $3 billion investment by the French group in a project to inject seawater into oil fields to enhance crude recovery.

Total, he added, will also provide $2 billion to build a processing plant for gas produced at the southern fields of West Qurna 2, Majnoon, Artawi, Tuba and Luhais.

It is expected to produce 300 MMcf/d and double that after a second phase of development, Jabbar said.

The oil minister said that the gas produced from Total’s project in the south will help Iraq to cut its gas imports from Iran, with the domestically produced gas also cheaper than the Iranian gas.

The cost of the gas imported from Iran is around $8 per million Btu and the gas that will be produced from Total's project would be $1.50 per million Btu cheaper, Jabbar said.

The other two projects are a solar power plant and one to increase crude output from the Artawi oil field.

Total will help to boost output from the Artawi oil field to 210,000 bbl/d from 85,000 bbl/d now, an oil ministry statement said.