MOSCOW, October 8 (RIA Novosti) – The president of Russian oil company Lukoil, Vagit Alekperov, will visit Iraq on October 13 where he is expected to discuss the expansion of the company's operations in the country.
"I will be in Baghdad on October 13 to meet the oil minister. I hope, we will continue our talks on the expansion of our operations in Iraq," Alekperov told journalists.
Currently, Lukoil is operating on the West Qurna-2 oil field in Iraq, which is ranked among the largest oil fields in the world.
West Qurna-2 is located 65 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of the city of Basra, southern Iraq, and has reserves of about 13 billion barrels. Lukoil won a tender for the development of the oil field in 2009 and has a 75 percent stake in the project.
Lukoil also has the right to further develop and explore the so-called Block 10, which covers an area of 5,500 square kilometers (2,124 square miles), located 120 kilometers to the west of Basra. In April 2014, the company began a 2D seismic survey at Block 10.
In April, Lukoil considered participating in a joint venture with Russian state-owned exploration and production company Zarubezhneft to develop the giant Nassiriya oil field in southern Iraq and build a refinery.
