DUBAI: Iraq and oil majors British Petroleum and China’s CNPC International have agreed commercial terms for a joint venture to almost triple production at the giant Rumaila oil field, a report said on Saturday.

The signing of the deal for the 20-year venture, expected to cost $14 billion-$20 billion, is expected to take place within weeks, Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) quoted officials as saying.

“We have more or less finished with the outstanding points. Hopefully, there will be a signing within a couple of weeks,” Deputy Oil Minister Abdulkareem Al-Leaby told the newsletter after a meeting on Wednesday.

Final ratification of the Technical Service Contract will take a bit longer since the parties need to sort out technical and mechanical details of the contract, MEES quoted a source familiar with talks as saying. MEES said Iraq state marketer SOMO will be allocated Baghdad’s 25 percent stake.