OAO Lukoil (LKOH.RS) Chief Executive Vagit Alekperov met Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani Monday for talks on reviving a deal to develop the West Qurna-2 oil field, one of Iraq's largest, a Lukoil spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires.
Lukoil struck a $3.7-billion deal with former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 1997 to drill at the West Qurna field, which is among the most promising in Iraq, with an estimated reserve capacity of over 4 billion barrels of oil. Saddam severed the contract in 2002, however.
Lukoil is Russia's second-largest oil producer.
Alekperov met with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in Moscow in early February during a visit in which the Russian government agreed to write off $12 billion, or 93%, of Iraq's $12.9 billion debt to Moscow, a gesture that appeared aimed at helping Russian companies win contracts in Iraq.