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Saturday, 30 August, 2008, 11:20 GMT | more prices >>

Giants sign on Iraq line



By Upstream staff 

Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell and Spanish energy company Repsol-YPF have both registered to compete for contracts to develop Iraq's huge oil reserves, company sources said.

Big oil companies have been positioning themselves for years to gain access to the world's third-largest reserves, among the cheapest oil to produce in the world.

Iraq has given companies until 18 February to submit documents that will qualify them to compete in tenders for service contracts to help develop its oil infrastructure. The deadline was extended from 31 January.

"Shell has submitted its prequalification documents, as per the original deadline," a Shell company source said.

A spokesman for Repsol in Madrid confirmed that Repsol had also submitted its documents.

Shell and Repsol join BP on the register. BP chief Executive Tony Hayward said on Tuesday that his company had signed up.

UK supermajor BP has no plans to send personnel into Iraq until the security situation improves, but would be interested in service agreements and cooperation with the country, a BP spokesman said yesterday.

ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil company not controlled by a state, said yesterday it is interested in helping to develop Iraq's oil reserves. Still, it declined to comment on whether it has registered yet to compete for contracts there.

"If the Iraqi government decides it wants international oil companies to partner with them in developing their resources, ExxonMobil would be interested in participating," spokesman Len D'Eramo said in an e-mailed statement, Reuters reported.

D'Eramo said ExxonMobil would pursue profitable business opportunities as they arise in Iraq, just as it would in other countries in which it is permitted to operate. He said it was premature to discuss specific opportunities in Iraq.

French energy group Total was also interested in participating in the tenders, company spokeswoman Patricia Marie said today. She was unable to confirm if the company had already submitted its documents.

Norway's StatoilHydro said last month that it would register, but a spokeswoman was unable to confirm yesterday if it had already done so.

BP has undertaken a study of the Rumaila oilfield, one of Iraq's largest. It has also studied possibilities at other fields and in gas and alternative energy.

Shell has studied the giant Kirkuk oilfield in the north and the Missan area of southern Iraq. Shell has also worked on a masterplan for development of Iraq's gas reserves.

Total had exclusive negotiating rights for the huge Majnoon and Bin Umar fields under Saddam Hussein.

Thursday, 07 February, 2008, 01:14 GMT  | last updated: Thursday, 07 February, 2008, 04:10 GMT

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