(Yicai Global) March 15 – Shares of Zhongman Petroleum and Natural Gas Group rose after the Chinese oilfield services company signed a contract with Basrah Oil for a project in Iraq’s Majnoon oilfield, one of the largest in the world.

Zhongman Petroleum [SHA: 603619] closed 3.9 percent higher today at CNY10.19 (USD1.57), while the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 1 percent.

Worth about USD69.5 million, equivalent to 18.4 percent of the firm’s total revenue in 2019, the deal’s value will be determined according to the actual work load, Shanghai-based Zhongman Petroleum said in a statement today. The two-year agreement can be extended for a further year in the future.

Iraqi state-run Basrah Oil is an oil and gas explorer that manages fields in the country’s south and takes part in infrastructure development on behalf of Iraq’s oil ministry.

The Majnoon field has proven crude oil reserves of about 12.6 billion barrels. Basrah Oil owns the operating rights for the contracted area in the field.

Editor: Peter Thomas