Iraq opens oil field bidding
Iraq will open at least six major oil and natural-gas fields for exploration and production in the first bidding for licenses since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Iraq, which pre-qualified international oil companies this week for the bidding, will open the southern fields of Rumaila North, Rumaila South, West Qurna and Zubair for exploration, Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said in an interview in Brussels yesterday. In the north, international oil companies will be invited to develop the Kirkuk oil field and the Akkaz gas field.
“At least six giant fields will be included, including some gas fields,” Shahristani said. “There will be other bid rounds next year, and more companies will be qualified as we go along.”
Iraq aims to nearly double oil production to 4 million barrels a day in the coming years with the help of international companies, many of which have refused to invest in the country because of a lack of security and the lack of a federal energy law. No legislation has been passed because of disagreements over revenue sharing and oil-field development.