Qatar extends oil field pact with France's Total

(AP) Qatar says it has signed another 25-year agreement with France's Total to oversee a major offshore oil field.

Wednesday's deal was approved by Energy Minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada. It gives Total a 40 percent operating interest in the Al Khalij field in the Persian Gulf, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) east of the Qatari coast.

State-run Qatar Petroleum and Total had a partnership on the field under an agreement signed in 1989 and set to expire in early 2014.

OPEC-member Qatar is a major exporter of oil and natural gas.