Iraq hopes to sign a delayed initial agreement for the Akkas gas field
"by the end of this year" after clearing up some misunderstandings
that led to the deal being postponed at the last minute earlier this month, a
senior Iraqi oil official said Thursday.
"There is no big problem and we are working on some clarifications,"
Sabah Abdul Kadhem al-Saedi, deputy head of Iraqi oil ministry's petroleum
contracts and licensing directorate, told Dow Jones Newswires. He declined to
elaborate.
The deal was scheduled for signature on Nov. 14 along with two other gas
fields, but contractors Korea Gas Corp. (036460.SE) and its partner,
Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGas EP JSC (RDGZ.KZ), sought further clarifications.
A gas export plan to Syria, part of a strategic pact signed with the Syrian
government, prompted Kogas and its partner to hold back from signing the
contract, an Iraqi oil expert familiar with the deal said.
According to a memorandum of understanding signed between Baghdad and Damascus
last month, Iraq was due to begin exporting gas from Akkas to Syria once the
field started producing, and this development wasn't stipulated in the contract
to develop the field, the expert said.
Authorities in the western Anbar province, where the field lies, rejected the
export plan and want gas from Akkas to be consumed locally to ease chronic
power cuts.
Kogas and KazMunaiGas aren't against the export plan but sought clarification
on it from Baghdad, the expert said.
Observers have said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has used the energy MOU with
Syria to gain support ahead of forming his new government. Maliki was asked
Thursday by President Jalal Talabani to form a new government, ending nearly
nine months of wrangling among Iraqi politicians since the general elections in
March.
Kogas and KazMunaiGas were awarded the field, with estimated proven reserves of
5.6 trillion cubic feet, located at western Anbar province, at a bidding round
held in Baghdad last month.
Deals for two other smaller gas fields, Mansouriya in the eastern Dialya
province and Siba in southern Basra governorate, were signed earlier this
month. The first was with Turkish Petroleum International Co., better known as
TPAO, in partnership with Kuwait Energy and Kogas, while the latter was signed
with Kuwait Energy in partnership with TPAO.