TEHRAN - Iran and Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday to study the construction of a pipeline to export crude oil from the northern Iraqi fields of Kirkuk via Iran.

The agreement, signed in Baghdad by the oil ministers of the two countries, also calls for a commission to solve a conflict about joint oilfields and the possible transportation of Iraqi crude to Iran's Abadan refinery, the Iraqi oil ministry said in a statement, Reuters reported.

Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said in the statement that he also agreed with visiting Iranian counterpart Bijan Namdar Zanganeh to cooperate on the policies of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The two neighbors are OPEC's second- and third-largest producers after Saudi Arabia. Iraq produces and exports most of its crude from the southern region.