JX Nippon Qatar sign $100 million gas exploration deal

Japan's JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp and state-operated Qatar Petroleum signed a $100 Million exploration and production sharing agreement for a natural gas field off the State of Qatar news reports said Monday. JX Nippon a unit of JX Holdings Inc reached the 30-year agreement Sunday with Qatar for production sharing at Block A a 6,173-square-kilometre area near North Field the world's biggest gas field Jiji Press reported. The field is estimated to have significantly large reserves an unnamed official of Japan's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy was quoted by Jiji as saying. Production is expected to start around 2020 after five years of exploration and test drilling. Industry Minister Banri Kaieda said in a statement that the latest deal would help Japan bolster its bilateral relations with Qatar and secure energy needed for its recovery from the March earthquake disaster Jiji reported