BAGHDAD ø Iraq has granted a contract to Saudi Arabia to search for oil
in southern Iraq.
The contract had been made previously with a Russian firm by the regime of Saddam Hussein, Middle East Newsline reported.
The Iraqi Oil Ministry has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia for the
exploration of energy near their joint border. Officials said that under the
agreement Saudi Arabia would dig 46 oil wells in southern Iraq.
The exploration would take place in existing oil fields. They included
Al Qurna, Bazrgan, Majnoon, Omar River and southern Rumaila.
Russia's LukOil has sought to develop the Qurna field. Several months
before the U.S.-led war against Iraq, the Saddam Hussein regime canceled the
contract with LukOil.