A Chinese company on Thursday signed an agreement with Iraq for exploration and development of oilfields in a sprawling border area close to Saudi Arabia.

Zhenhua Oil will carry out 3-D seismic surveys covering an area of around 2,850 square kilometres in the Al Qurnain block located in southwestern Najaf province.

Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani said in statement on the Ministry’s website that the agreement with Zhenhua is part of licensing rounds conducted by Iraq over the last two years with the aim of developing oil and gas resources.

He said the seismic surveys to be carried out by Zhenhua as part of the fifth round are intended to boost Iraq’s proven crude deposits, already the world’s fifth largest.

“Zhenhua will carry out surveys near the Saudi border for a period of 223 days..it will also drill four exploratory oil wells in the area,” the Ministry said.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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