Iraq weighs offer for Tuba field development

Iraqi workers tend to the Tuba oil field in Basra on Feb. 19, 2015. (ESSAM AL-SUDANI/Reuters)

BASRA – Private Chinese firm Geo Jade is partnering with the Iraqi company Hilal al-Basra to pursue a contract for developing the Tuba oil field in Basra governorate.

If it goes forward, the deal would strengthen a trend of private Iraqi businesses taking a more prominent role in major energy projects that have long been the purview of state-owned companies and international oil firms.