CNPC, Sinopec and the National Iranian Oil Company are to develop two oilfields in the nation's northern region.
The Chinese oil majors have invested $20 billion to develop the Yadavaran and Azadegan oilfields, which will eventually produce 700,000 barrels-per-day (bpd according to Iraq's Shana News Agency. Over 20 drilling rigs across the two oilfields have already been commissioned and are set to begin work in the near future.
The Azadegan oilfield, situated near to the nation's border, holds around 5.2 billion barrels of recoverable oil deposits and will be managed by Sinopec Corp, which signed a buyback contact for its development back in 2007.
The nearby Yadavaran oilfield is estimated to hold around 12 billion barrels of in-situ crude, 12.5 trillion cubic feet of associated gases, as well as 1.9 billion barrels of condensates and will be developed by China's largest state-owned energy company, China National Petroleum Corp.
According to Iraqi oil minister Rostam Qasemi, the government needs to increase co-operation and investment in joint oil fields. Qasemi believes “the oil industry's infrastructure needs more than 500 trillion rials ($41 billion) of investment” to achieve the objectives outlined in the nation's most recent 20-Year Outlook Plan.