Irag, Angola's Sonangol strike deal over oil field

Tuesday, 15 December 2009

Angolan energy firm Sonangol said it reached agreement with Iraq on Saturday over the Qaiyarah field in northern Iraq.

The two sides had failed to strike a deal on Friday when Qaiyarah was auctioned because Sonangol refused to lower the per-barrel fee it would accept to work on the field to five dollars from an initial offer of $12.50.

"We discussed this, and we found the five-dollar operating price acceptable," a spokesman said at the oil ministry hall where the auction is set to continue on Saturday.

The firm will sign a preliminary contract with Iraq in two weeks, Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said.

Sonangol was the only company to submit a bid on Qaiyarah, which is in Nineveh province in northern Iraq with projected output of 120,000 barrels per day.

There is currently no production at Qaiyarah, which has known reserves of 807 million barrels.

Iraq is carrying out two days of auctions on rights to exploit oil fields as it seeks to dramatically boost its crude output and become one of the world's biggest oil producers.

Sapa-AFP