Middle East:Iran getting closer to common ground on deal with Iraq
Iran and Iraq are moving closer to finding common ground on the exploitation of oil fields straddling their shared border, an Iranian executive said.

Mehdi Fakour, managing director of the National Iranian Central Oil Co, told the Oil Ministry's Petroenergy Information Network that Tehran was moving closer to finding common language on cooperation in border oil fields.

“NICOC intends to conclude a contract with the Iraqi side so that it meets the interests of both countries and the two sides are able to pursue their common issues,” he said.

Energy officials in Tehran said in July that as much as 35 percent of a federal energy development budget will go toward the development of joint oil fields.

Iran has shared oil fields with most of its neighbors in the Persian Gulf region as well as Turkmenistan.

Engineers accompanied Iranian troops to take control of well No. 4 at the Fakkah oil field in Maysan province December 18. Iranian forces eventually pulled back but only about 160 feet from their original location.

The border between the two countries remains unsettled from the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Iranian officials said both sides agreed to set up a joint committee to work on border demarcation.