Italian power company
Edison SpA (EDN.MI) has sent registration documents to the Iraqi oil ministry
to compete for oil and gas projects, a person familiar with the matter said
Monday.
Edison could bid to develop Iraq's
Akkas natural gas field, northwest of the capital Baghdad,
Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore
reported earlier this month. Iraq's
Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani told the business daily Edison
had filed preliminary bid documents for the field near the Syrian border which
could produce between 350,000 and 500,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
Al-Shahristani met with Edison executives for about an hour in Vienna on the sidelines of a meeting of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries held Feb.1, the newspaper
reported. Edison is controlled by French power
company Electricite de France (1024251.FR) and Italian regional utility A2A SpA
(A2A.MI).
Iraq
has set Feb. 18 as the final day for receiving registration documentation from
international companies interested in participating in the development of some
of its prized oil fields.
Iraq
is currently tendering technical support agreements, or TSAs, that will help
increase production in the country's largest producing oil fields.