BAGHDAD (Dow Jones)--Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahristani said Friday that two out of five contracts up for auction were awarded.
A consortium comprising Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) and Malaysia's Petronas has been awarded Majnoon oil field, while the contract to develop the giant Halfaya oil field in southern Iraq was awarded to a consortium led by China National Petroleum Corp., Petronas and France's Total SA (TOT).
None of the international companies that took part in Friday's bidding process submit bids for the East Baghdad and Eastern fields.
The only company that bid for Qaiyarah, Angola's Sonangol, wasn't awarded the contract as it didn't meet the ministry's minimum remuneration fee of $5 a barrel for each barrel produced. The company proposed a payment fee of $12.50 a barrel.
A further five oil and gas field contracts will be up for auction Saturday.