The Iraqi ministry spokesman, Assem Jihad said that Iraq launched its fourth sate-owned oil company, to oversee development of fields in the country’s central.

The Midland Oil Company will join the North, South and Maysan companies to help boosting the country’s oil output.

“We decided to establish the Middle Oil Company which will be responsible for developing the oilfields in Baghdad and surrounding provinces,” said Jihad.

The oil ministry said the company is named Sharikat Naft Wasat in arabic, and will be translated to the Midland in english.

The state-owned Iraqi Oil Exploration Company, which will be managed by the new formed Midland Oil Company, will be responsible for managing oilfields in Anbar, Babil, Diyala, Diwaniyah, Karbala and Wasit provinces, according to the ministry.

The ministry lately awarded a consortium of Russia’s Gazprom (30%), Turkey’s TPAO (7.5%), South Korea’s Kogas (22.5%) and Malaysia’s Petronas (15%) a deal to develop the Badra field, south-east of Baghdad.

Midland has a 25% stake in the Badra contract; the field has a production of 109 million barrels.

“We took this decision following the country’s recent decision to grant licenses to foreign companies. The Middle Oil Company will supervise the new developments.” added Jihad.