Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 13 / Trend S.Isayev, A. Tagiyeva/
Iraq will not allow neighboring countries to carry out unilateral work on joint oilfields, Iraqi Alsumaria News website quotes the country's Oil Ministry's official, Asym Jihad as saying.
Jihad added that country's issues with neighboring countries regarding the joint oilfields will be discussed according to internationally accepted legal regulations.
"Iraq and neighboring countries have earlier established joint commissions to resolve this issue," Jihad said. "Parties of the commission have agreed to an outside company to work on these joint oilfields".
Iraq has 24 joint oilfields with Syria, Kuwait and Iran. In case with Iran, there are some 68,000 barrels per day of crude oil extracted from four oilfields associated with Iraq (Naftshahr, Paydar Gharb, Dehloran and Aban).
Earlier, in August 2011, Iran's Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said that the Iranian government should consider plans for the development of joint oilfields in the border areas with Iraq.
The National Iranian Oil Company's managing director has announced 20 contracts will be signed by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2012) to develop joint oilfields.
According to BP, proven oil reserves in Iraq amounted to 115 billion barrels as of early 2011 which puts the country into third place after Saudi Arabia and Iran. The major oil fields of Iraq are Rumaila, Zubair, Nahr Umr, Majnoon and West Qurna in the south of the country.
Some 80 percent of oil produced in Iraq is exported. The country supplies oil to Jordan, Turkey and Syria.
Jihad also said no neighboring country can count on even one barrel of oil being extracted from joint oilfields, as far as unilateral approach is concerned. "Unilateral extraction will only harm the oilfields," he said.
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