BAGHDAD, March 2 (UPI) -- Iraq said it could move ahead to develop the giant Nasiriyah oil field on its own as talks with Japanese oil company Nippon Oil collapse, officials said.
Iraq's South Oil Co. Director Dhiya Jaafar said his company could drill 10 wells in the Nasiriyah field to boost national production to 50,000 barrels per day by the end of the year, the Emirati newspaper The National reports. Current levels are 10,000 bpd.
Production from Nasiriyah is set for three phases, with an initial volume expected at 50,000 barrels per day, rising to 400,000 bpd and to 1 million bpd in 12 years.
Iraqi officials had suggested the terms of the $8 billion deal with Nippon could unravel a deal reached outside the two post-war oil auctions in 2009.
Abdul al-Ameedi, the head of the Iraqi licensing directorate, said the talks with Nippon collapsed, the National said.
Iraq had two rounds of oil auctions in 2009. International producers shied away from June auctions, citing insecurity and the government's terms as reason to stay away. December auctions, however, prompted Baghdad to say it could rival Saudi Arabia in terms of oil production.
