ST. PETERSBURG, June 2. /TASS/. Russia’s top oil producer Rosneft and the Kurdistan Regional Government have signed a series of agreements on widening their cooperation in exploration and production of hydrocarbons, commerce and logistics, according to Rosneft.
"The parties signed an investment agreement under which they committed to develop cooperation in exploration and production, agreed on monetization of the export oil pipeline in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as entered into a number of production sharing agreements," Rosneft said.
The agreement outlines the main terms of the project stipulating the establishment of a joint venture for implementation of the long-term contract related to infrastructure systems in Iraqi Kurdistan. "Rosneft will get access to the major regional transportation system with the throughput capacity of 700 thousand bbl per day, which is planned to be expanded up to 1 mln bbl per day by the end of 2017," the report said.
Also, the parties committed to enter into effect of the production-sharing agreements signed as part of the forum with respect to five blocks with substantial geological potential and outlines other perspective areas of cooperation in exploration and production, including the gas sphere.
"The signed documents strengthen cooperation between Rosneft and Iraqi Kurdistan, which started in February 2017 from signing a contract on purchase and sale of crude in 2017-2019," the report said. The new agreements will allow to talk about full entry of Rosneft in "one of the most promising regions of the developing global energy market with the expected recoverable reserves in the order of 45 billion bbl of oil and 5.66 trillion cubic meters of gas (according to the estimate of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Kurdistan Region)," the company said. The agreements also provide for further phased investments of Rosneft in Kurdistan Region.