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BP sees Final Deal on Iraq Oilfield by Year End | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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LONDON (Reuters) – BP expects to finalize a deal to develop Iraq’s largest producing oilfield by the end of the year, Chief Executive Tony Hayward said on Tuesday.

Abdul-Mahdy al-Ameedi, deputy director general of Iraq’s contracts and licensing directorate, had said last week that he hoped a deal with a BP-led consortium to develop the Rumaila field could be finalized at a meeting in August.

“That’s probably not realistic, not least because it’s Ramadan in August” Hayward told journalists in London, adding that he hoped to conclude details of the contract by year end and to begin work next year.

The consortium, which includes China’s CNPC, won the right to develop the field at an auction in Baghdad earlier this month.