Korean Consortium Wins Oil Rights in N. Iraq

A consortium consisting of Korea National Oil Corp. and other Korean firms has won exploration rights at a large oil field in the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq.

The state-run oil giant said yesterday that the vast field holds an estimated one billion barrels of oil, 200 million more than Korea’s annual oil consumption of 800 million barrels.

Led by the oil corporation, Samsung Corp., Daesung Engineering & Construction, Samchully and UI Energy, the consortium will sign a memorandum of understanding today with the Kurdistan Regional Government on energy cooperation at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul.

Sources said the two sides will also announce details such as the oil field’s location.

At the ceremony, visiting Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and consortium executives will sign the deal.

The consortium is the second from Korea to win oil exploration rights in the Kurdish autonomous region. The first did so in November last year in the Bazian oil field in the Dahuk region of northern Iraq, which is estimated to hold 500 million barrels.

Before signing the agreement, Barzani will also pay a courtesy call on President-elect Lee Myung-bak to discuss encouraging Korean firms to explore oil fields in the Kurdish region more proactively.

The president-elect has emphasized “resource diplomacy,” saying in his New Year’s speech on Jan. 14, “The (Korean) prime minister will play a role in resource diplomacy.”

Iraq’s central government and the Kurdish region are fighting over who has the right to develop untapped oil fields in the region. Baghdad has urged other nations to give up their oil exploration rights in the region, and has stopped oil exports to nations attempting to explore oil fields in the area, including Korea.

Oil experts say, however, that Baghdad’s policy will not last since the Kurdish region in November last year alone reached about ten oil exploration agreements with firms from the United States, Britain, Austria, Hungary, India and Korea.