Iraq bid to attract more international oil companies

Iraq's oil ministry on Monday launched a process to qualify more international energy companies to bid for oil and gas contracts as it seeks to more than double output in the next few years.

Iraq holds the world's third-largest oil reserves and needs billions of dollars of investment to overhaul infrastructure and boost oil and gas output after years of sanctions and war.

Firms that wished to qualify to bid for the contracts must submit applications by Feb. 1, Iraq's oil ministry said on its website www.oil.gov.iq.

The country announced a second-bidding round for oil and gas fields last week, naming 11 fields it would open up for bidding for development service contracts. The first bidding round was announced in June for 8 oil and gas fields.

In April 2008 the oil ministry published a list of 35 international oil companies that qualified to compete in its first bidding round for oil and gas contracts, after around 120 firms submitted paperwork to apply.

The ministry said then that companies that failed to qualify could still qualify for later rounds.

The fields announced in the second round could increase oil production by up to 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in a few years, Iraq's Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said last week. That is about what Iraq currently pumps.

The fields announced in the first round could provide another 1.5 million bpd in additional output.

The oil ministry was expected to announce the winners of the first round by the middle of this year, while contracts for the second round would be finalised by the end of 2009. (Reuters)