Russian state-run oil company Gazprom Neft signed on Thursday a contract to develop the Badra oil field in Iraq, the company announced.
A consortium of companies led by Gazprom Neft was declared the winner of a tender for the deposit's development in December 2009. The consortium also includes Korea's Kogas, Malaysia's Petronas and Turkey's TPAO.
Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of energy giant Gazprom, will hold 30% in the project, Kogas 22.5%, Petronas 15% and TPAO 7.5%, while the Iraqi government represented by Oil Exploration Company will have a 25% stake.
The Badra oil field will be developed over 20 years with the possibility of a 5-year prolongation and will have a production capacity of 170,000 barrels per day. Work is expected to start in 2010 and investment in the project will reach about $2 billion.
"The implementation of the project to develop the Badra deposit is a key stage in the company's development on international markets. With the start of work in Iraq, Gazprom Neft is making yet another step in fulfilling its long-term plan of output expansion by 2020," Gazprom Neft Board Chairman Alexander Dyukov said.
LUKoil, Russia's largest independent crude producer, also won a tender in December 2009 to develop Iraq's West Qurna-2 oil field.
MOSCOW, January 28 (RIA Novosti)
