South Korean engineering group Daewoo has won a £461million service contract for Iraq’s largest gas field.
Daewoo Engineering and Construction will develop the Akkas field, in the western province of Anbar, with reserves of 5.6trillion cubic feet.
Iraq’s cabinet secretary Ali al-Alaq told Reuters the South Korean firm would handle engineering, procurement and construction work for the processing facility and pipeline network.
Kogas had agreed a deal in 2011 to develop the Akkas field, with a 400million cubic feet per day production target over the next 13 years.
Iraq says the priority for the field will be domestic use, although it may allow exports once local requirements are satisfied.
Originally gas was to be sent to Syria for processing, but instability in the region has lead to a need to process it onsite instead.
Earlier this year three people were killed after a raid on the gas field by gunmen.