India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is close to completing renegotiations over a deal that it struck with Saddam Hussain's regime to develop an oil field in Iraq, an official close to the talks have claimed.

Speaking to Reuters, a source inside the investment arm of the Indian company said that talks concerning the development of block 8 in the south of the country were progressing steadily.

"The deal will be done shortly ... We have had three or four meetings and have more lined up," the source claimed.

Another anonymous insider put the total value of investment at around $1.5 billion (£997 million).

ONGC operates an international training and development academy located at Dehra Dun in the Himalayas. As well as providing expansive training facilities for the country's oil and gas industry, it also has ties with companies operating in Iraq, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Vietnam.

Written by Rachel King

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