Korea Secures 1.9 Billion Barrels of Kurdistan Oil

A Korean consortium led by the Korea National Oil Corporation will develop a super-size oil field with an estimated deposit of 1.9 billion barrels of oil and build social infrastructure in the Kurdish Autonomous Region in northern Iraq. It looks as though Korean businesses will after all take a brisk part in Iraq's postwar reconstruction in the area.

According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy on Wednesday, Kurdish Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and a senior executive of the KNOC officially signed a contract on the development of eight oil blocks and the sharing of oil production in Irbil in the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan.

As a result, the KNOC obtained the right to develop two undeveloped blocks presumed to have oil deposits and to take smaller stakes in six other blocks in Kurdistan. The total estimated deposit in these eight blocks is approximately 7.2 billion barrels, of which the KNOC has secured about 1.9 billion, the equivalent of two years' consumption for all of South Korea.

The KNOC said the Kurdish oil blocks are the largest oil fields Korea has ever developed overseas. Test production is to begin in three to four years.

The two sides also signed an agreement for a package deal that includes crude oil development and social infrastructure construction in the Kurdish region.

The SOC consortium will consist of seven Korean construction companies, including Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Ssangyong Engineering and Construction, and Kolon Engineering and Construction. They will build infrastructure worth US$2.1 billion, including electrical works ($700 million) and water supply and sewers ($1.4 billion).