Iraq has started talks with foreign operators to develop two of its key upstream assets – the East Baghdad oil field and the Akkas gas field.

The Oil Ministry in a statement said that Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luiebi has held talks in Baghdad with a trade delegation from China’s ZhenHua Oil Company, about carrying out works to develop the East Baghdad oil field.

Iraq reportedly awarded a contract with the Chinese state-owned oil firm in December last year. The ministry’s statement said it was looking to “complete all procedures which are related with East Baghdad project to start the work on it soon”.

It added that ZhenHua’s president Lu Ygiang expressed “readiness on behalf of his company to start work” on the project.

Iraq is seeking to increase production from East Baghdad to 40,000 barrels a day within five years from the start of operations.

Iraqi oil officials have estimated the East Baghdad field, a “super giant” with around 8 billion barrels of crude reserves, has the potential to produce 120,000 barrels of oil a day.

Oil Ministry officials have said in the past that increasing East Baghdad crude production would help feed nearby refineries and power stations, and make more oil available for exports from the southern zone.

The ministry in a separate statement has also said that Al-Luiebi has held a meeting in Baghdad with South Korean state-owned gas firm Kogas, which operates the Akkas gas field in Iraq’s Anbar governorate, to restart operations at the asset.

The Akkas field was captured by Islamic State (IS) militants in May 2014, and was only recaptured after a prolonged offensive by the Iraqi military after over three years on 2 November, 2017.

Gas production at Akkas, which reportedly has reserves of 5.6 trillion cubic feet, has not resumed since.

It is understood that Al-Luiebi’s talks with the KOGAS team, led by its chief executive Yunsaing Kim, revolved around the damage inflicted on the asset by the militants and how soon operations could resume.