South Korea has signed a $3.55 billion deal with Iraq to help rebuild the war-ravaged country in return for oil and gas. South Korea's presidential office said Tuesday that Seoul would provide technology to build social infrastructure in return for a stable supply of energy and the right to develop oil reserves in Iraq's southern Basra region. The office said that the deal _ inked by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani _ is expected be finalized later this year. Iraq has an estimated 115 billion barrels of oil and some 112 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves. Resource-poor South Korea imports virtually all of its oil, with more than 80 percent from the Middle East, according to a report of Associated Press.
