KOGAS, the Korea Gas Corporation, will double its commitment to develop Iraq's Akkas gas field, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
The move follows the withdrawal of its partner, Kazakhstan state gas company KazMunaiGas, from the project.
Kogas, will now have a 75% stake in one of Iraq's largest gas projects, up from 37.5% previously. Iraq's state-run North Oil Company will hold the other 25%.
The company plans to invest about $2.66 billion in the Akkas project over a 20-year period, a company official said. But that estimate is based on an assumption that Kogas keeps the entire 75% stake in the project, the person said.
After a final signing of the contract with Iraq takes place, expected next month, Kogas may find a new partner to help develop the 3.3-trillion-cubic-foot gas field, Kogas said in a filing.
The signing of the contract had been delayed twice since KazMunaiGas and Kogas won the right to develop the gas field last year because of disputes with provincial authorities in Anbar province, where the field is located.
In April, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited Seoul and agreed for South Korea to have the priority right to at least 250,000 barrels a day of crude oil during any emergency that upsets the global supply-and-demand balance, equivalent to about 10% of South Korean daily crude imports.
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
[...] Ministry’s petroleum contracts and licensing directorate, told Dow Jones Newswires.Iraq asked KOGAS to develop Akkas on its own after Kazakh company KazMunaiGas pulled out.(Sources: Dow Jones, Reuters, AKnews) .report{ [...]