Iraq will sign a massive deal with BP covering four Kirkuk oil and gas fields by early February that will exceed the value of TotalEnergies' $27bn Basra agreement, Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani told Reuters during his UK visit on January 15, IQA news.

The oil deal comes as part of a raft of deals signed between London and Baghdad between Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani and Keir Starmer on January 14.

“The signing ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil Hayan Abdul Ghani Al-Sawad. The MoU was signed on behalf of Iraq by the Director General of North Oil Company, Amer Khalil Ahmed, and on behalf of BP by the company’s Iraq Branch Manager, Zaid Al-Yasiri,” the Prime Minister's Media Office stated.

"These are big investments," Abdul Ghani said, noting that the deal would increase oil production by up to 150,000 barrels per day (bpd), with output flowing to underutilised northern refineries. The agreement also includes significant gas development components.

Baghdad and BP signed a preliminary agreement to evaluate redeveloping the Kirkuk oil and gas field and neighbouring fields, Iraq's state news agency reported.

The companies reached technical terms in December, with new contracts expected to offer more generous profit-sharing than historical agreements.

BP, which helped discover Kirkuk's oil in the 1920s and estimates that the area holds about 9bn barrels of recoverable oil, already operates Iraq's giant Rumaila field through a 50% joint venture stake. The company has maintained operations in Iraq for a century.

The deal supports Iraq's plans to boost gas production and end flaring by 2028. Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, has capacity to produce nearly 5mn bpd.

BP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In an article published in The Sunday Telegraph, Al-Sudani wrote that Baghdad seeks to strengthen its strategic partnership with London amid "unprecedented and escalating events in the Middle East, which not only threaten the region but risk broader conflicts."

“The relationship between Iraq and the United Kingdom has undergone significant transformations over recent decades, from the reconstruction phase post-2003 to the crucial role the UK played in providing military and intelligence support during Iraq’s fight against IS,” al-Sudani wrote in the paper.

British Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds called the agreement "another vote of confidence in Britain," noting that UK Export Finance support would "give UK and Iraqi business more certainty and help lead to growth and genuine shared benefits for both our economies."