China's Geo-Jade Petroleum Corp and United Energy Group (UEG) have signed agreements with the Iraqi oil ministry to explore three oil and gas fields in the country, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.
Beijing-based Geo-Jade Petroleum will explore two fields, while Hong Kong-based UEG has won rights to another field.
Iraq is the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, following Saudi Arabia.
More than 90 percent of the government's revenue comes from the oil industry. The Iraqi government intends to increase crude oil production capacity to more than 5 million barrels per day (bpd) from 4.35 million bpd at present, according to media reports.
