Occidental Petroleum and two partners, the Eni energy conglomerate of Italy and the Korea Gas Corporation, have signed a 20-year contract to develop the 4-billion barrel Zubair oil field in Iraq. This is the latest in a series of oil contract signings in Iraq this month, the first since 2003, and is seen as a vote of confidence in the stability of the Iraqi government.

Iraq's oil reserves could rival those of Saudi Arabia, the biggest OPEC producer by volume. The Zubair field, in southern Iraq near Basra, has the potential to produce up to 1.2 million barrels per day. It currently produces 195,000 barrels a day. The consortium will invest approximately $20 billion in the project over the life of the contract.

An earlier contract for the massive Majnoon oil field with 12.8 billion barrels was finalized with Royal Dutch Shell and Petronas of Malaysia. Another deal for the 12.9 billion barrels at the West Qurna field is pending for partners OAO Lukoil of Russia and Statoil of Norway.

Together, these deals will help Iraq bring production to 11 million barrels a day within the decade, a five-fold increase over current volumes.

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