Russia’s Lukoil is pushing for amendments to the contract for Iraq's West Qurna-2 project, estimated to be worth $2.8bn.

The project was the focus of talks between Lukoil CEO Vagit Alekperov and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, according to Russian news agency Tass.

In September last year, Iraq’s Oil Ministry agreed to reduce the target plateau production level at the West Qurna-2 field to 800,000 barrels a day (b/d) after two years of negotiations. This had already been reduced from 1.8 million b/d in the original contract to 1.2 million b/d.

Alekperov said that Lukoil is negotiating investments and deadlines for the field. The Russian oil company has been negotiating the details of the contract for more than two years.

West Qurna-2 is being developed by Lukoil in partnership with Norway’s Statoil and Iraq’s state-owned South Oil Company (SOC). It has estimated recoverable oil reserves of 13 billion barrels. These will be produced from two major formations: Mishrif and Yamama.

In November last year, it was announced that Shell would be handing over its stake in Iraq’s Majnoon field to state-owned Basra Oil Company by the end of June. The super-giant field is estimated to hold reserves of up to 38 billion barrels of oil and has maintained an output of 210,000 b/d since production started in 2014.