UPDATE: Saudi company Delta Oil in talks to develop Akkas gas field

A Saudi company named Delta Oil has emerged as a potential partner to help develop the Akkas gas field in a consortium led by U.S. oil services company Schlumberger, as the Iraqi Oil Ministry seeks to overcome a decade of delay to fast-track new domestic gas supply.

Resuming work to develop Akkas, which contains an estimated 5.6 trillion cubic feet of gas, could have high-profile political and economic consequences. It is an opportunity for Iraq to build economic ties with Saudi Arabia; it is one of the few hydrocarbon assets in the heartland of Iraq's Sunni minority, which is thirsting for investment; and it fits the Oil Ministry’s strategy of developing dry gas fields and capturing more associated gas from southern oil fields to limit exposure to Iranian imports of gas and electricity.