The two parties signed a two-year memorandum of cooperation covering the evaluation of potential oil and gas projects and human resource development in the Kurdistan region.
Under the agreement, they will undertake a joint six-month study, mostly from Perth, using existing data on two fields to identify viable oil and gas projects.
“Iraq holds the world’s third largest oil and gas reserves and Kurdistan is a relatively underexplored part of Iraq,” Woodside media officer Rob Millhouse told EnergyReview.Net.
“We expect Iraq’s political situation to improve over time, but this is just an initial step to more fully understand the potential risks, rewards and benefits of investing in Iraq's oil and gas sector. It’s too early too say whether this will lead to Woodside investing in Iraq.”
Woodside will also sponsor the training of several professional Iraq Oil Ministry personnel in Perth and several Iraqi science and engineering students at Curtin University of Technology, also in Perth, Millhouse said.