MOSCOW, April 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's largest independent oil producer LUKoil is ready to adapt a contract to Iraq's new oil legislation paving the way for development of the West Qurna-2 oil field, the company head said on Saturday.
LUKoil was involved in the first phase of the West Qurna field, located in southern Iraq, and signed a contract with the Saddam Hussein regime to develop the second stage, but the deal was frozen in 2002.
"We are ready to adapt the contract to new laws," Vagit Alekperov told journalists at a Russian-Iraqi roundtable, adding: "The provisions for tenders, the rules of play have been approved. The legislative base has been prepared to invest and guarantee returns on investment."
Alekperov made the announcement following a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who told Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday that the country was seeking to attract Russian investment in the oil-rich country.
"Russian companies possess rich experience in cooperation with Iraqi partners. They are already active [in Iraq], but we are interested in expanding their presence," al-Maliki told Putin, who accepted an invitation to visit Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also invited heads of Russian companies to Iraq for specific talks.
West Qurna-2's proven recoverable reserves have been estimated at around 6 billion barrels of oil. Under the terms of the contract, output could amount to 4.8 billion barrels of oil and 56.4 billion cubic meters of associated gas. Investment in the project could reach $4 billion.
Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, who attended the talks between al-Maliki and Putin, said two Russian companies, Technopromexport and Stroytransgaz, could join projects in Iraq.
"We have received a number of tempting offers to attract Russian companies in developing power engineering and infrastructure in Iraq. Technopromexport and Stroytransgaz could take part in the projects," Shmatko said.
Technopromexport is a Russian leader in the field of power construction projects and electricity exports. Stroytransgaz is an engineering-construction company providing a wide range of project services.
