Iraq has finally signed a preliminary deal with South Koreas KOGAS to develop the Akkaz field in the western province of Anbar, an oil ministry official said.
"We signed the preliminary contract on 2nd June with KOGAS to exploit the Akkaz field for a period of 20 years," said Abdul Hamid al-Amidi, the head of the ministry's contracts department.
The Iraqi government originally awarded the development project in November to a joint bid from Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGas and the Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS), but the former pulled out last month.
Baghdad then asked KOGAS to develop the field on its own.
Akkaz, with estimated gas reserves of 5.6 trillion cubic feet, was discovered in 1992 in Iraq's northwestern region, near the border with Syria, in the western province of Anbar.
