KHABAROVSK, July 31 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's energy minister Sergei Shmatko said on Friday he would pay a visit to Iraq in early August to discuss oil and energy cooperation.
"In the first half of August, I will visit Baghdad," he told journalists.
The main issue on the agenda is likely to be Russia's participation in the West Qurna-2 project.
LUKoil was involved in the development of the first phase of West Qurna and signed a contract with the Saddam Hussein regime to develop the second stage, but the deal was frozen in 2002.
In May Russia wrote off the bulk of Iraq's debts of around $12 billion.
A number of foreign oil companies, including LUKoil, are expected to take part in bidding to participate in long-term development projects involving the country's oil fields next month.
West Qurna-2's proven recoverable reserves have been estimated at around 6 billion barrels of oil. Investment in the project could reach $4 billion.
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