BAGHDAD, March 31 (UPI) -- BP doled out drilling contracts to tap the giant Rumaila oil field in Iraq in a move that could be a bellwether moment for the country, executives said.
Paolo Scaroni, the chief executive at Italian energy company Eni, told The Wall Street Journal that work in Rumaila and nearby fields "could change the map of oil."
Eni is preparing its own working plans for the giant Zubair field in Iraq.
Iraq emerged from its second round of oil auctions in December with plans to rival Saudi Arabia in terms of oil production.
Iraq sits on an estimated 115 billion barrels of crude oil reserves and much of the country is underexplored. The Rumaila oil field near the southern Iraqi port city of Basra could produce at least 1 million barrels of oil per day.
The report from the Journal notes that efforts under way near Basra could bring about the largest explosion in crude oil production ever.
Iraq must clear a set of political hurdles, however. Officials with the Iraqiya bloc, which led in March 7 parliamentary elections, said it would review foreign oil contracts if it takes control of the government later this year.
Analysts, however, said expansions in Iraqi oil production could help meet global energy demand as booming markets in China and India strain current supplies.
