MOSCOW, May 18 (UPI) -- Russian oil producer Lukoil may expect renewal of its contract in the West Qurna-2 oil field in southern Iraq, Iraqi lawmakers said Monday.
"We believe that the contract with Lukoil will be reviewed, but the company will be given preference and will be allowed to invest in the West Qurna-2 oil field," Ali Hussein Balo, a Kurdish oil official in the Iraqi Parliament, told RIA Novosti. "We are very much interested in that."
Lukoil, the largest oil producer in Russia, signed contracts with the Saddam Hussein government of Iraq to develop West Qurna, though that contract was suspended in 2002.
In 2008 Lukoil and Iraq moved forward with the agreement by establishing a working group to examine amending the original West Qurna contracts in order to develop the field's second phase.
Recoverable reserves at West Qurna-2 are estimated at roughly 6 billion barrels of oil.
The Iraqi government has approached supermajors Chevron and Total for developments at West Qurna-2, though RIA Novosti reports Lukoil is the favored developer, as Moscow recently forgave a significant portion of Iraq's $12 billion debt.
The announcement comes amid a flurry of activity in the Iraqi energy sector. The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq announced earlier this month it would begin oil exports from two northern oil fields beginning June 1. A multilateral gas deal between European and Emirati companies also targets Kurdish gas for the heralded Nabucco gas pipeline.
