Iraq plans to invite international oil and gas companies to compete
for 12 exploration blocks later this year, the director of Iraq's
petroleum contracts and licensing department Abdul Mahdi al-Ameedi told
Argus
today.
Plans for the bidding round, which will be Iraq's fourth since the
2003 overthrow of the previous regime, are at a very early stage, said
al-Ameedi.
Iraq's new oil minister Abdul Karim Luaibi Bahedh has decided that 12
blocs will be on offer, but that number could change, said al-Ameedi.
Iraq's oil ministry needs to undertake much preparation, including
defining the blocks to be offered and preparing the data for each block.
The ministry will also need to come up with a new service contract
model adapted from a production sharing agreement model, said al-Ameedi.
“Exploration contracts are usually production sharing agreements, but
we will be offering service contracts,” he said.
Participating companies will explore for both oil and gas, although
gas will be the priority. But Iraq also wants to discover new oil
reserves to offset expected reserves depletion as its production rises
at 12 oil fields operated by foreign oil companies. It also hopes to
boost its 143bn bl oil reserves.
Former oil minister Hussein al-Shahristani announced in October that
Iraq's proven oil reserves had risen by around 25pc from 115bn bl to
143bn bl.