Iraq seals $20 billion oil deal with Eni-led consortium
23 Jan 2010
Iraq's state-owned oil companies South Oil Company (SOC) and Missan Oil Company (MOC) yesterday finalised a $20 billion contract with a consortium led by Italian energy giant Eni SpA with partners Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Oxy) of the US and Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) to develop the Zubair oil field near Basra in Iraq.
The deal is one of the several oil deals by Iraq, aiming to transform the war-torn nation into a major oil producer in the world. In October, BP and CNPC jointly signed a preliminary agreement with Iraq to develop the country's largest Rumaila oilfield. (See: CNPC-BP sign agreement to develop Iraq's Rumaila oilfield)
Rome-based Eni is the leader in Middle East region, engaged in exploration, drilling, and also engineering and construction activities. Los Angeles, California-based Oxy is an international oil and gas exploration and production company while Kogas is Korea's public natural gas company.
Under the deal, the syndicate plans to invest approximately $20 billion over a period of 20 years, and boost oil production from the Zubair field by 1 million barrels per day (bpd) to reach 1.2 million bpd from the current level of around 200,000 bpd.
The targeted production is to be achieved in the first 6 years and maintained for 7 years thereafter.
Eni holds 32.81 per cent stake in the venture while Oxy has 23.44 per cent, KOGAS 18.75 per cent and MOC 25 per cent.
