Iraqi Dinar News - Baghdad closes in on first round oil deals

Baghdad closes in on first round oil deals

News wires


Iraq is in the final stages of negotiating deals for oilfields left over from a June energy auction after players put forward new bids for production targets and accepted Iraq's fee terms, Oil Minister Hussain Shahristani said.


Reuters quoted Shahristani telling a news conference that Eni, Occidental, and the Korean Gas Corporation (Kogas) had proposed a production plateau target of 1.125 million barrels per day for the Zubair oilfield and had agreed to a fee of $2 per barrel.
He also said a consortium of Lukoil and ConocoPhillips was competing against ExxonMobil for West Qurna, Phase 1.

The Lukoil group had proposed an output target of 1.5 million bpd, while ExxonMobil had put forward a target of 2.1 million bpd. Earlier this week, another top oil official said Iraq was expecting another offer from France's Total for West Qurna.

Oil officials were expected to meet with companies in Istanbul, where they will hold a workshop on a second oil auction expected in the first half of December.

The ministry's first auction, held in Baghdad at the end of June, was the centerpiece of Iraq's efforts to boost production and revive its lucrative but crumbling oil sector.
Of eight fields offered, only one deal was clinched after players baulked at the Oil Ministry's stiff payment terms. In that deal, BP and China National Petroleum Corporation agreed to a fee of $2 per barrel to develop super-giant Rumaila field.


Tuesday, 13 October, 2009, 12:40 GMT | last updated: Tuesday, 13 October, 2009, 13:01 GMT