Posted on 27 September 2011.
Iraq’s Oil Ministry has formally approved a proposal to raise production at the al-Ahdab oil field to 200,000 bpd.
The Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC) that started exploring the field in June.
It is considered to be CNPC’s largest oil investment in the Middle East and the first oil field to be newly explored in Iraq for 20 years, according to AKnews.
CNPC signed contracts for Ahdab in 2008 after previous agreements with the regime of Saddam Hussein in 1996 were put on hold by UN sanctions. The state-owned company invests $3 billion USD (3.5 trillion IQD) for this 23-year contract.
China, desperately in need of energy for its growing economy, makes only 1% profit with its investment in Ahdab, according to Chinese officials. However, a Chinese oil executive told the New York Times that Ahdab was a good way to “get a foot in the door” of the Iraqi oil industry.
(Source: AKnews)
http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2011/0 ... -al-ahdab/
