State-run Korea Gas Corp. (036460.SE), or Kogas, said Thursday it plans to invest close to $1.05 billion in the development of the Badra oil field in Iraq over 20 years starting this year.
Kogas expects to secure about 20 million barrels in total, or about 1 million barrels a year on average, for its investment, it said in a statement.
A consortium including Kogas signed a final deal Thursday with Iraq on the field's development.
Under the contract, Russia's Gazprom Neft, operator of the project, will hold a 30% stake, Turkish Petroleum Corp., known as TPAO, 7.5%, Kogas 22.5% and Petronas Carigali 15%, while Iraq's Oil Exploration Company will own a 25% stake, Kogas said.
The group members' stake size fell after Iraq's Oil Exploration joined the consortium.
Total investment by the consortium during the 20-year contract period will be about $3.52 billion. The consortium plans to produce about 800 million barrels in total during the period.
On Dec. 12, Iraq's oil ministry said a consortium led by Gazprom was awarded a contract to develop the Badra field.
The field is situated in Wasit governorate, 160 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, and extends across the border with Iran. It was discovered in 1979 and holds some 150 million barrels of oil reserves.
The consortium will receive $5.50 for each barrel extracted and the output projected is 170,000 barrels a day, according to the ministry.
Last Friday, a consortium comprising Italy's Eni SpA (E), Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) and Kogas signed a final deal in Baghdad to develop the Zubair oil field in southern Iraq.
Eni owns a 32.81% stake in the venture, while Occidental Petroleum holds 23.44%, while Kogas owns 18.75%; Iraq's state-run Missan Oil Co. owns the remaining 25%.
Eni's chief executive officer, Paolo Scaroni, who signed the deal in Baghdad, told reporters the consortium plans to invest some $20 billion over the life of the 20-year contract, which has the potential to be extended to 25 years.
Kogas said it plans to invest some $6.5 billion in the Zubair field.