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Iraq names its preferred bidders


Agencies

Iraq has published a list of 35 companies that it said are qualified to bid for future oil and gas contracts, a government spokesman said.

Supermajors BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total all qualified.

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.

A vital oil law to establish the framework for foreign investment has been stalled for a year by political feuding. As stop-gap measures to boost output until the law is in place, Iraq plans to issue oil extraction and service contracts.

"Up to now, 35 companies have been qualified out of 120 companies that presented their documentation to the oil ministry," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said at a press conference, Reuters reported.

The process was ongoing, and some companies that had failed to submit all the documentation necessary would be given the chance to complete their paperwork, he added.

Dabbagh did not give details on qualified companies, nor say if any had been disqualified.

Baghdad has said that companies that had done deals with the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq would not be allowed to bid for contracts in the rest of the country. Baghdad claims the Kurdish deals are illegal.

Iraq asked oil companies interested in the service contracts to submit their paperwork to Baghdad by mid-February. It had initially planned to issue the list of qualified companies in March before announcing the fields and contracts that would be open to bidding in April.

Iraq produces about 2.3 million barrels per day of oil, a tiny fraction of its 115 billion barrels of proven crude reserves.

The 35 companies shortlisted are:

  • Marathon Oil
  • BG International
  • Mitsubushi Corporation
  • BHP Billiton
  • Nexen
  • BP
  • Nippon Oil
  • Chevron
  • Occidental Petroleum
  • China National Offshore Oil Corporation
  • Oil & Natural Gas Corporation
  • China National Petroleum Corporation
  • Petronas
  • ConocoPhillips
  • Pertamina
  • Edison International
  • Premier
  • Eni
  • Repsol YPF
  • ExxonMobil
  • Shell
  • Hess
  • Sinochem
  • Inpex
  • Sinopec
  • Japex
  • StatoilHydro
  • Gazprom Neft
  • Total
  • Kogas
  • Wintershall BASF
  • Lukoil
  • Woodside
  • Maersk
  • Anadarko

Monday, 14 April, 2008, 00:32 GMT  | last updated: Monday, 14 April, 2008, 09:17 GMT

Stepping up: Iraq plans to issue oil extraction and service contracts
 

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