BAGHDAD, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- International oil majors are gobbling up formal contracts with the Iraqi government to develop some of the country's largest oil fields.
Angolan state oil company Sonangol on Wednesday signed an initial agreement with the Iraqi government to develop the Qayara and Najmah oil fields in the northern province of Ninawa, online energy news service Upstreamonline reports.
The Najmah field holds an estimated 900 million barrels of oil. Qayara holds roughly 800 million barrels.
Russia's LUKoil and Norway's Statoil secured a deal earlier this week for the giant West Qurna-2 oil field in Basra province.
Assim Jihad, a spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry, told the Voices of Iraq news agency those companies won the prized West Qurna contract with pledges to produce 1.8 million barrels per day from the field for a fee of $1.15 per barrel.
West Qurna holds an estimated 12.8 billion barrels of oil.
Iraq landed key deals during its second round of post-war oil auctions in December. The country aims to expand its production capacity through the deals to rival Saudi Arabia in terms of oil output.
Any of the contracts awarded in the latest auction require the consent of the Iraqi Cabinet before they are finalized.
