Iraq is expecting the CEO of Rosneft to visit Baghdad for talks about Kurdistan oil contracts, according to a report by Russia’s Tass news agency, which cited Iraqi envoy Haidar Mansour Hadi.

In May this year the state-owned Russian oil company signed a contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), agreeing to to help Kurdistan develop its gas reserves and build a gas pipeline.

As part of the deal Rosneft said it would conduct pre-front-end engineering and design (feed) work for a gas pipeline in the region.

Rosneft said that it would focus on partnerships and third-party project financing for gas projects in Kurdistan.

It also said it aims to produce up to 10,000 barrels a day of oil in Kurdistan by the end of this year.

Last October, Rosneft’s CEO, Igor Sechin, wrote a letter to Iraq’s Oil Ministry saying Baghdad’s government was showing a “lack of constructive position and interest” about the company’s offer to develop southern Iraqi oilfields.

In the letter Sechin said his firm would instead do business with the KRG, which showed “a higher interest in expanding strategic cooperation”.