AMMAN (Dow Jones)--Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization, or SOMO, Thursday awarded its 11th and likely final tender of Kirkuk crude this year to five companies, selling nearly 6 million barrels, a senior Iraqi oil official said.
Total SA (TOT) and ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) were among the five companies winning the tender, the official said without disclosing the remaining companies.
He doesn't expect SOMO to issue any more tenders this year to sell Kirkuk crude oil.
As from January 2008, SOMO will start selling Kirkuk crude oil through term contracts, each lasting three months instead of the current auction system.
SOMO said it would sell about 300,000 barrels a day of Kirkuk crude to 11 European and U.S. companies as from the beginning of next year.