Lukoil top brass head to Baghdad
Lukoil boss Vagit Alekperov will lead a delegation to Iraq tomorrow as the Russian producer continues talks aimed at reviving a $3.4 billion oil deal struck during Saddam Hussein's regime.
Alekperov and the company's vice president Andrey Kuzyaev plan to meet top Iraqi officials to talk about development of the West Qurna-2 oilfield in southern Iraq, a Lukoil official told Dow Jones news wires.
Lukoil signed a contract in 1997 to develop that field but was expelled from the country in 2002.
Company officials have been working to renegotiate that contract and talks moved forward when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki visited Russia in April.
At that time, both sides agreed that Lukoil officials would visit Baghdad in the near future to continue the talks.
Maliki's office confirmed the visit but declined to give details.