Exploration company Petrel Resources is hoping the relaxation of sanctions against Iraq would lead to a formal approval for the exploration company to start work on its allocated oil block between Baghdad and the Jordanian border.

At the a.g.m. of Petrel Resources in Dublin yesterday the company's chairman, Mr John Teeling, said that for humanitarian reasons, as well as Middle East peace -and world economic well-being, it was imperative that a workable solution to the problem should be found. "Petrel is ready to move. We await the word," he said. Petrel would maintain an active presence in Iraq and was ideally placed to be a key player when sanctions were lifted, he said.

He said an exploration deal had been agreed in principle with Iraqi oil officials covering a 10,000 square metre block in the western desert but formal approval of agreement was still not forthcoming.

He told The Irish Times that Petrel, a listed company on the London Stock Exchange, had been involved in Iraq for three years and "had spent a pile of money" and it had taken two years of negotiations to get a proposal for the exploration block.

"We know what we want to do and they know what we want to do," he said. "There are large quantities of oil. Iraq has the second biggest oil reserve in the world and fields tend to be very large by world standards. "They have made only nine blocks available, not in the best areas. "We are the only stock exchange company in the UK that is in Iraq," he added.