Iraqi PM: Cabinet To Discuss Zubair Deal Next Week

QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's Cabinet will meet next week to ratify a deal with a consortium led by Italy's Eni SpA to develop a prized southern oil field, the prime minister said Tuesday.

Eni, the U.S.'s Occidental Petroleum Corp. and South Korea's KOGAS last week initialed a deal to develop the 4.1 billion barrel Zubair field, with an eye toward boosting output from around 200,000 barrels per day to 1.1 million barrels per day within seven years.

The deal must still be approved by the Cabinet.

Another deal initialed last week, with a consortium led by U.S. and European oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC for the West Qurna Stage 1 field, is also awaiting Cabinet approval.

During a news conference Tuesday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the Cabinet's legal committee had some issues regarding the Zubair contract and that it has been referred once again to the legal department and the oil ministry to deal with the issues.

He said the Zubair deal would be submitted to the Cabinet next Tuesday for ratification. The prime minister did not specify what the issues were.