The Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC) has begun operations in the al-Ahdab field in the Wasit province of eastern Iraq, making it the first foreign oil company to work in the country for three decades.

Wasit governor Latif al-Tarfa told Reuters: "The Chinese engineers have located the spot where they will construct a field work site and all the company's equipment will reach the southern port of Basra soon."

The news agency notes that Iraq has broken ranks with regional oil-producing nations in courting foreign investment because years of dictatorial rule and international sanctions have left its oil infrastructure crippled.

Last month, Takashi Kikuchi of Japan's Oil, Gas & Metals National Corp, which is currently competing for Iraqi production rights, told the LA Times that core domestic workers have been denied access to the training and development programmes necessary to allow them to serve the modern energy industry.

He said the only workers who had these skill sets were those who received oil training before Saddam Hussein came to power.

5th Global Education and Training event for Oil and Gas: Exploration and Production