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Dubai: Iraq's Oil Minister Hussain Al Shahr-istani will visit Beijing at the end of this week to conclude a contract to develop the Ahdab oil field with a unit of China National Petroleum, an official at the ministry said.
The contract may be signed after Al Shahristani meets officials from China National's Al Waha Petro-leum unit, the official, who declined to be identified for security reasons, said by telephone on Tuesday. The government has said the Ahdab field in southern Iraq may produce about 90,000 barrels a day.
If concluded, China National will be the first foreign company to win exploration rights from the central government in Baghdad since the US-led invasion in March 2003.
Renegotiations
China's largest oil producer was awarded the field in 1997 and Iraq is renegotiating contracts that former President Saddam Hussain's regime had signed with international oil companies. Iraq has this year been negotiating technical service contracts with companies such as BP, as it seeks to boost output to levels attained before the war.
Al-Shahristani will visit Poland today and travel to China from there, the Iraqi oil ministry official said. Liu Weijiang, a spokesman for China National's overseas projects, declined to comment by mobile phone from Daqing in northeastern China.
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