MOSCOW, February 05. /ITAR-TASS/. Gazprom Neft, the oil branch of Russia’s energy giant Gazprom, hopes that the annual oil output at blocs it is developing in Iraqi Kurdistan may reach 10 million tons by 2021-2022, the company’s deputy chief executive officer Vadim Yakovlev told a news conference on Wednesday.

In 2012 Gazprom Neft signed two production sharing agreements on the Garmian and Shakal blocs in southern Kurdistan with the Kurdistan Regional Government. At present, Gazprom Neft continues geological surveys at those blocs. The two blocs’ oil reserves are estimated at 1.5 billion tons.

In early 2013 Gaprom Neft received an 80% stake in the Khalabdzha bloc development project in Iraqi Kurdistan under a production sharing agreement. The remaining shares in the project are owned by the Kurdistan Regional Government. The reserves at the bloc located 30 kilometers of Garmian are estimated at around 90 million tons.