BP PLC (BP) and its partner China National Petroleum Corp. will be the first companies to be paid back by the Iraqi government for developing Iraq 's supergiant Rumaila oil field, a senior Iraqi oil official said.

"The first company that we are going to pay back costs and remuneration fees will be BP," Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, head of the Iraqi oil ministry's petroleum contracts and licensing directorate, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Ameedi said payment for BP is expected to start either in March or April. He didn't provide further details.

Iraq signed over the last 14 months some 12 deals to develop one of the country's vast oil fields. According to the terms of the service contracts Iraq signed with the firms, Baghdad has to start paying back costs of developing these fields and remuneration fees when they achieve a 10% increase in production.

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