Iraq has offered three discovered oil blocks to India and agreed to meet country's growing energy demand by raising crude oil supplies, oil minister Veerappa Moily said.

The three discovered oil blocks are located in the Middle Furat oilfields, he told reporters after returning fromBaghdadand Ashgabat (Turkmenistan).

"During a bilateral meeting, the Iraqi side also agreed to immediately re-initiate negotiations with ONGC for finalising a decade-old contract for Block-8," the minister said. The block was awarded to ONGC by the erstwhile Saddam Hussein regime, which the new government wanted to renegotiate.

Iraqhas also expressed interest in Indian Oil Corporation'sgreenfieldParadip refinery project, he said. "Iraqis willing to increase oil supply toIndiaand it has offered 60 days credit facilities," Moily said.

"We import about 20 million tonnes per annum crude oil fromIraqand we plan to raise it to meet demands of new refineries," oil secretary Vivek Rae said.Iraqis the second-biggest oil supplier toIndiaafter oil imports from Iran was cut because of western sanctions.

Moily also attended theTurkmenistan,Afghanistan,Pakistanand India (TAPI) gas pipeline project's steering committee in Ashgabat and expressed hope that the four countries would soon engage an international energy major to manage the project.



Soran Ali