China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and BP are expected to jointly finalize their contracts with Iraqi partners for the development of the Rumaila oilfield by the end of October, after the two companies were awarded the contract to develop the field in June.
CNPC President Jiang Jiemin was scheduled to travel to London this week to meet with BP's top management, said a company source yesterday, who asked not to be named. Development of the Rumaila oilfield will be on top of Jiang's agenda, he said, without elaborating.
The BP-CNPC contract to develop Rumaila was the only successful bid in Iraq's auction of its oil and gas assets in June. It is also the country's first auction of major oil contracts since the 2003 US-led invasion.
Insiders said yesterday that CNPC would renegotiate with BP on the size of their respective stakes in Rumaila during Jiang's visit.
Under a preliminary agreement, CNPC is set to take a 25-percent stake in the project, and BP 50 percent, with another 25 percent by their Iraqi partners. But CNPC would likely take a larger stake, a source close to the deal told Caijing magazine.
Rumaila is the workhorse of Iraq's oil sector, with a current capacity of 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) out of Iraq's total national output of 2.4 million bpd.
