Iraq’s cabinet has signed two contracts worth $173m with two Chinese oil field services firms for the drilling of wells in the east of Iraq.

The first contract, worth $78.1m, was signed with China’s Bohai Drilling Engineering Company, a subsidiary of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, for the drilling of 10 wells at the Abu Ghraib oil field.

A $94.9m contract was signed with another Chinese state-owned firm for 11 wells at the Faqqa and Buzurgan fields.

Both contracts were signed on 22 April and are expected to be completed within 10-12 months. The Abu Ghraib, Faqqa and Buzurgan fields make up the Missan oil fields, which are being developed by China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) and plans to raise production capacity to 450,000 barrels a day (b/d) in two phases by 2017.