Iraq’s oil ministry opened 11 oil and gas fields on Wednesday to foreign firms in a second round of bidding for long-term development contracts.
“Under service contracts prepared by the oil ministry, 11 oil and gas fields will undergo complete development,” oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani told a Baghdad news conference.
He named the oil fields as Majnoon, West Qurna Phase II, Halfaya, East Baghdad, Gharrafa, Qayara, Najmah, Badrah, Kifil/West Kifil/Mirjan and a group in Diyala province, as well as the Siba gas field in Basra province.
Shahristani said the new fields could increase production by 2.0 to 2.5 million barrels per day within 3-4 years of the contracts being completed at the end of 2009. That increase is roughly equivalent to what Iraq produces today.
In June this year, Iraq announced a first bidding round for long-term contracts for eight big oil and gas fields. The oil ministry expects to announce the results of that round by the middle of next year, and Shahristani has said they will add 1.5 million barrels to the country’s output.
Iraq has the world’s third largest oil reserves but its creaking oil infrastructure is in need of massive investment to boost production. (Reuters)
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