DUBAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - A revised contract signed lastweek by British oil major BP and China's CNPC for Iraq's Rumaila oilfield has raised both companies' stakes ina joint venture formed to develop the field, a senior Iraqi oilofficial said on Sunday.
Under the revised contract, BP has cut the planned outputtarget for the supergiant field to 2.1 million barrels per dayfrom 2.85 million bpd and extended the life of the deal, BP andIraqi officials said on Thursday.
The original contract had BP holding a 38 percent stake inthe Rumaila venture, while CNPC had a 37 percent share andIraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation controlled the rest.
According to the revised deal signed on Thursday, BP's sharerose to 47.6 percent and CNPC's to 46.4 percent, while Iraq'sstake was reduced to 6 percent, Thamer Ghadhban, top energyadviser to outgoing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, told Reuters.He did not elaborate.
BP and CNPC could not immediately be reached for comment.
After signing a series of service agreements with foreigncompanies in 2009-2010 to develop its giant southern oilfields, Iraq set an overall production capacity target of 12 million bpdby 2020, which would rival the output capacity of top oilexporter Saudi Arabia at 12.5 million bpd.
Foreign oil companies working in Iraq include BP, leader atRumaila; ExxonMobil, in charge of West Qurna 1; RoyalDutch Shell, operator of Majnoon; and Lukoil,which is leading West Qurna 2 operations.
But crumbling infrastructure, red tape and a lack of clearlegislation have stunted investor interest. Baghdad has reducedits overall capacity target to 8.5-9 million bpd and returned tothe negotiating table to discuss revised planned output targets,known as plateau production levels, with oil companies.
"With major contracted fields' production plateaux reducedto more feasible and sustainable targets I'm now confident wecan reach 9 million bpd or so by 2020," Ghadhban tweeted onThursday.
Rumaila has estimated reserves of 17 billion barrels. Itcurrently produces around 1.3 million to 1.4 million bpd, almosthalf of Iraq's output of around 3.2 million bpd. (Reporting by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Andrew Torchia andRaissa Kasolowsky)