Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi oversaw the official signing ceremony on Saturday, September 12, 2026, for a comprehensive 25-year contract to develop and operate the Ajil oil field, sealed between the state-owned North Oil Company (NOC) and China’s KEPT.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Media Office, the long-term upstream venture represents a strategic component of the Ministry of Oil’s broader master plan to maximize domestic hydrocarbon resources, curb gas flaring, and directly channel critical feedstock to the national electricity grid.
Under the agreed development blueprint, the consortium aims to execute a progressive, phased expansion across the field’s producing reservoirs, with a decisive emphasis on non-associated and associated natural gas recovery.
Gas extraction at the field is projected to scale up from current baselines of roughly 135 million standard cubic feet per day (mscfd) to a targeted output of 300 mscfd, a massive increase expected to provide essential, domestic gas volumes to feed nearby power generation plants and alleviate the country’s persistent power shortages.
In addition to the substantial boost in gas capture, the agreement outlines targets to expand crude extraction capabilities over the lifespan of the concession.
Field operations are set to lift crude output incrementally from 30,000 barrels per day to 40,000 barrels per day, enhancing northern production flows managed by NOC while reinforcing the federal government’s drive to attract international technical and operational expertise into mature hydrocarbon basins across central and northern Iraq.
