Iraq to Send Out Bid Round Packages This Week

28 October 2008 The Iraqi oil ministry is gearing up to send out the initial tender protocol and data packages for the eight oil and gas fields included in its landmark first bid round by the end of this week, and expects international oil companies to pay participation fees for the fields on which they choose to bid by Dec. 31, ministry sources say. Despite the accelerated process, questions persist…

Iraq Starts Countdown for Contract Awards

14 October 2008 Iraq’s oil ministry on Monday launched a competition among 35 international oil companies for six of Iraq’s most prized oil fields and two undeveloped gas fields under 20-year service contracts, which Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said he expects to be “finalized and presented to the Iraqi cabinet for ratification before the end of June.” Prequalified companies for Iraq’s first bid round, including all the majors as…

China, Iraq Offer Concessions to Seal Oil Deal

29 August 2008 China National Petroleum Corp.’s (CNPC) new 20-year service contract to develop Iraq’s Al-Ahdab oil field — the first oil deal signed since Saddam Hussein’s overthrow in 2003 — preserves some of the choicer elements of its 1997 production sharing agreement (PSA). But both sides offered concessions in a bid to bring the negotiations launched last year to a conclusion, Iraqi sources involved in the talks told International…

Iraq Gears up for Bid Round Road Show

17 July 2008 Iraq is gearing up to conduct a road show for its first bid round since the US-led invasion of 2003, announced at the end of June, and expects to launch a second round before the end of the year, Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani told International Oil Daily in an interview in Baghdad Wednesday. He added that technical support contracts (TSC) for five producing fields could still be…