Chinese oil delegation in Wassit

WASSIT / IraqiNews.com: A Chinese oil delegation on Sunday arrived in Wassit province ahead of preparations for development work on al-Ahdab oilfield, a local media director said. “Today, an oil delegation from a Chinese company visited the province and met with its mayor to kick-start preparations for work on site,” Majed al-Itabi told IraqiNews.com. Meanwhile, the deputy chairman of the Chinese company expressed his country’s readiness to develop the field and to sign a contract with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil “within the coming days.” Al-Ahdab oilfield, in the al-Ahrar district, 25 km west of Kut city, is one of Iraq’s recently explored oilfields that, if developed, is expected to hit 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) in capacity. Discovered in the year 1979, the oilfield boasts a reserve of 225 million barrels of crude oil. A Shiite province, Wassit, 180 km south of Baghdad, is in the east of the country. Its name comes from the Arabic word meaning “middle,” as it lies along the Tigris about midway between Baghdad and Basra. Its major cities include the capital, al-Kut, and al-Hayy. Prior to 1976 it was known as Kut Province. SS (S) 1