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Iraq keeps suitors waiting



By Upstream staff 

Iraq is not in talks with major upstream outfits about new deals in the country's oil play just yet, although they wait keenly in the wings, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said today.

He said that Baghdad was waiting first for its new oil sector law to pass through parliament.

"We are not negotiating with any major oil companies for the time being, we are waiting for the hydrocarbons law to be enacted by the parliament," Reuters quoted him as saying.

He repeated that the law was likely to be passed before the end of May.

"Meanwhile almost all the major oil companies have indicated interest to come and work in Iraq, we have (memorand of understanding) with almost all of them," he added.

"They are preparing themselves but there is no negotiation about the development of any particular field," he said.

The new law will create the Iraq National Oil Company (INOC) which will be responsible for prized oilfields that are already discovered and producing.

Under Saddam Hussein a Russian consortium headed by Lukoil signed a deal to develop West Qurna, although that was cancelled by Iraq in 2002.

France's Total has initialled deals for the Majnoon and Bin Umar fields.

Shahristani said production sharing contracts had not been proposed yet as an investment model.

"We are not discussing that form of contract yet," he said. "The law has left this (the investment model) open for INOC to decide what is the best for the interests of Iraq for the development of any field," he said, speaking before the start of today's Opec meeting.


Thursday, 15 March, 2007, 10:35 GMT  | last updated: Thursday, 15 March, 2007, 10:52 GMT

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