Iraq is to develop the Nassiriya oilfield on its own, following the breakdown of talks with a Japanese group led by Nippon Oil Corp., the head of Iraq’s South Oil Co. has told Reuters.
Nippon, along with its partners Inpex Corp and JGC Corp had been negotiating the deal for a number of months, but a deal could not be reached, with the problems reportedly arising from financing.
“Talks with the Nippon group have reached a dead end, and we will start developing the field through national efforts,” Dhiya Jaafar, head of the SOC told Reuters in an interview in the southern oil hub of Basra.
The Nassiriya field has reserves of under 5 billion barrels and Nippon had projected it could pump up to 200,000bpd within two years.
Iraq has also agreed with foreign oil firms to set baseline production levels for the Zubair and West Qurna Phase One oilfields.
