Iraq to Finalise Oil Deals in late Jan

Iraq's Oil Ministry will finalise deals later this month with foreign energy firms for its Majnoon, Gharaf, Qayara and Najmah fields, a ministry official said. Sabah Abdul Kadhim, the head of the legal section of Iraq's Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate, said the ministry would sign a final service contract for super giant Majnoon, which was awarded to Royal Dutch Shell and Malaysia's Petronas in a December energy auction, on 17 January 2010.

Majnoon's reserves are a whopping 12.6 billion barrels, making it one of the world's largest untapped fields.

On 18 January 2010, it will sign a deal for smaller field Gharaf, with reserves of 900 million barrels, with Petronas and the Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (Japex).

On 26 January 2010, the ministry will sign with Angola's Sonangol for northern Qayara and Najmah fields, he said.- Trade Arabia