PHOTO
A worker stands at the gas field in Basra , Iraq, August 26, 2017. Picture taken August 26, 2017. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani - RTX3DWMR
OPEC member Iraq has awarded Phase 1 of the development of Akkas gas field to the US-based Schlumberger Company, media reports said on Thursday.
The cabinet agreed on an “urgent” investment plan to develop the country’s largest gas field at a meeting headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani on Wednesday.
“The cabinet agreed on an urgent investment plan for Akkas… phase 1 will be executed by Schlumberger and the rest by the Midland Oil Company,” Aliqtisad News said.
Iraq’s Oil Ministry announced in 2024 it has awarded the Akkas project to Ukraine’s Ukrzemresurs Company but it was not clear if the contract has been terminated.
Iraqi parliament’s oil and gas committee had criticised the Ministry for awarding the deal to that company on the grounds it is little known and does not have the technology to develop such an immense field.
Akkas field in the Western Al-Anbar governorate was abandoned by South Korea’s state-owned Korea Gas Corporation (Kogas) after it was captured by ISIS militants nearly a decade ago. Discovered in 1992, it contains around 5.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas deposits, according to the Ministry.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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