Iraq has signed an initial gas exploration deal with Pakistan Petroleum, one of three contracts agreed at the recent oil auction aimed at increasing the countrys oil and gas reserves
The deal gives Pakistan Petroleum the right to explore the 6,000 square kilometre gas block 8 in Diyala and Wasit provinces in eastern Iraq.
"We are now initialling a contract between the Iraqi oil ministry and Pakistan Petroleum," Abdul Mehdi al-Amidi, the head of the ministry's contracts and licensing department was reported by AFP as saying.
The contract was awarded to the Pakistan energy firm during the two-day auction for exploration blocks held in May that saw Iraq award just three of the 12 blocks to foreign firms because the remaining eight blocks received no bids.
The company agreed to a remuneration fee of US$5.38 per barrel of oil-equivalent eventually extracted.
Iraq will also sign an initial contract this week with a consortium led by Kuwait Energy for oil block 9. A deal to explore oil block 10 will also be signed with a group led by Russia’s Lukoil.
The deals will all need to be sent to the Iraqi cabinet for approval before any final contracts are signed. According to al-Amidi, this process should last about a month.
