The Iraqi oil ministry said Monday it would announce the second round of tenders to develop its vast oil and gas fields, which are among the world's largest, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, according to a statement posted in the ministry Web site Monday.
Earlier, a ministry official and a spokesman said that the announcement would be made Monday, Dec. 29. However, the ministry spokesman, Assem Jihad, said the Dec. 29 date could be changed if it was announced as a public holiday to mark the Islamic new year.
"The conference will be held in the Ministry of Oil building at 11:00 a.m. (local time) on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008," the ministry's statement said.
It said "authorized representatives of international oil companies in Iraq and international, Arab and Iraqi media representatives are welcomed to cover this (news) conference."
The statement said the announcement would be made by oil minister Hussein al-Shahristani.
Neither the ministry's statement nor Jihad would say which oil fields would be involved in the 2nd bidding round. However, according to sources close to the ministry, super giant fields of Majnoon, Bin Umar, Halfaya and possibly West Qurna -2, all located in southern Iraq, and Qayiarah in the northern Mosul province are expected to be included in the second bidding round.
Other fields under consideration by the ministry are Nur, al-Gharraf, and Sindibad in southern Iraq. In the north, the ministry is planning to offer fields in Diyala province. In the center the fields expected to be announced for development include East Baghdad, and West Kifl, the sources said.
These fields are with estimated reserves of more than 40 billion barrels and a total production capacity of 3 million barrels a day, they added.
The oil ministry signed recently a $3 billion contract with China National Petroleum Corp. to develop Al Ahdab field in central Iraq. The contract was signed during Saddam Hussein's regime, but it was renegotiated and changed from a production-sharing contract to a service one.
Baghdad also signed a preliminary agreement with Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) to develop the gas infrastructure in southern Iraq.
The sources said contracts for the fields in the second bidding round would be similar to Al Ahdab contract and those in the first round, which was announced last June, when the ministry offered 20-year service contracts to 35 pre-qualified international oil companies to help develop six major producing fields and two gas fields.
The first bidding round covered six oil fields - Kirkuk and Bai Hassan in northern Iraq, Rumaila, Zubair, West Qurna -1 and Missan in southern Iraq. The two gas fields are Akkas in western Iraq and Mansouriyah in the east of the country.
Iraq hopes to increase its crude oil production to 4.5 million barrels a day in five years' time and to 6 million barrels a day in 10 years' time from 2.5 million barrels a day.