Iraq to ratify Pertamina's exploration blocks contract in June

State oil and gas company PT Pertamina, will get approval next month to explore for oil in Iraq's western desert, a company official said.

Iraqi officials informed Pertamina that the exploration agreements, signed under the rule of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, will be ratified, Kun Kurnely, deputy director of upstream affairs, told reporters in Jakarta today. Pertamina said in 2002 it expects the 10,000 square-kilometer area to yield as much as 3 billion barrels of oil.

"We've sent a team of geologists and geophysicists to prepare for the exploration works and to train the Iraqi workers," Kun said. "We want to start as soon as our contract is ratified."

Pertamina stopped preparatory work in the area in May last year because of concern about the safety of employees working in the Middle Eastern country.(*)