Iraq has finally signed a preliminary deal with South Korea's KOGAS to develop the Akkaz field in the western province of Anbar, an oil ministry official said.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and affiliates of ExxonMobil Chemical announced Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contracts had been awarded for the proposed new elastomers project at their Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company (KEMYA).

Saudi Aramco plans to accelerate the development of its 900,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Manifa oilfield and reach full capacity by early 2015, an Aramco executive said.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) is aiming to construct a US$1 billion-plus facility with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) in China.

Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) has seen a rise in oil and gas production which has helped it see profits rise in Q1 2011.