Rosneft Signs Production Sharing Agreement for Kurdistan Oil Blocks

Rosneft Oil Co. (ROSN.MZ) said Wednesday that it has signed off on its previously announced production sharing agreement with the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq over five production blocks.

The Russian state-backed oil company said its subsidiaries will have an 80% share in the production agreements. Rosneft's payments for the projects' farm-in and geological information range from $40 million to $110 million, and may total up to $400 million. Of this, up to $200 million could be compensated for with oil produced from the blocks.

The two parties have agreed to begin pilot production as early as in 2018, with full-field development planned for 2021. The total recoverable oil reserves in the five blocks are estimated at 670 million barrels.

Shares in Rosneft closed down 1.90 rubles at 326.10 rubles on Wednesday.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 18, 2017 12:44 ET (16:44 GMT)