Iraqi premier to visit China next week

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will travel to China next week for a three-day visit focusing on energy, investment and other economic issues, his spokesman said Tuesday. Maliki "will head a large delegation that will include ministers and will meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao," spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said. Discussions would focus on "improvement of bilateral relations in the fields of energy, transportation, agriculture, services and investment," Dabbagh added. China is a leading player in Iraq's oil sector. In 2009, China National Petroleum Corp. sealed a deal along with Britain's BP to ramp up production at Iraq's biggest oil field, Rumaila, which has estimated reserves of 17.7 billion barrels. In December of that year, a consortium led by CNPC won the right to develop Halfaya oil field in southern Iraq, whose reserves are estimated at 4.09 billion barrels. This month, the Al-Ahdab oil field in central Iraq, which is operated by CNPC, began production with 60,000 barrels per day. In 2008, CNPC signed a three-billion-dollar contract to develop the Al-Ahdab oil field with another Chinese company, Zhenhua Oil, in the province of Wasit for 23 years.