Basra Governor Asaad Al-Eidani announced plans to finance a major seawater desalination project through the Iraqi-Chinese Fund, while also outlining efforts to increase the proportion of Iraqi workers in the province’s oil fields.

Al-Eidani clarified that the large-scale desalination plant will not be funded through the Japanese loan, as previously suggested, but through petrodollar allocations. He noted that a proposal is currently under discussion to secure financing via the Iraqi-Chinese Fund, with an implementation timeline of four years.

He described the project as the largest of its kind globally, with a production capacity of 1.1 million cubic meters per day—sufficient to meet the water needs of the entire Basra Governorate.

On the issue of foreign labor in the oil sector, the governor said the Social Affairs and Labor Committee of the Basra Provincial Council has introduced a plan to raise the percentage of Iraqi employees, a process that has already begun. He pointed out that oil licensing agreements stipulate an 80 percent share for Iraqi workers and 20 percent for foreign experts.

Al-Eidani added that many Basra residents are employed in the oil fields, alongside workers from other Iraqi provinces.