LONDON (ShareCast) - Oil & gas explorer Petrel Resources is buying a fifth of an Iraqi oil company in a cash-and-shares deal.

Petrel is acquiring a 20% share in special purpose vehicle Amira Hydrocarbons Wasit, which owns a quarter of some oil and gas exploration and production licences in Iraq's Wasit province, from Amira Petroleum, part of Amira Industries.

It is paying an upfront cash sum of $500,000 and issuing 18.9m Petrel shares.

Petrel said the deal, which gives it a strategic partnership with Amira Industries and allows it to benefit from the latter's local experience, would strengthen its position in Iraq, where it has been present since 1999.

It also has first refusal to take part in future exploration and production licences in the Iraqi provinces of Muthanna, Karbala, Babil and Najaf, once secured by Amira Industries.

Arman Kayablian, the Chief 0perating Officer of Amira Industries, will join the board of Petrel as a director.

Petrel's Managing Director David Horgan said: "Following the recent farm out of our Irish acreage, the acquisition refocuses our efforts on one of the world's premier hydrocarbon basins."

PW

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