Iraq is expected to invite certain international companies to compete for developing the southern portion of East Baghdad oil field near the Iraqi capital, a senior Iraqi oil official said Thursday.
"The oil ministry will soon invite some companies to bid for the field," the official told Dow Jones Newswires.
East Baghdad oil field is producing about 17,000 barrels a day and the ministry is planning to develop the field whose estimated reserves stood at 7.5 billion barrels.
The oil ministry wants to develop the field under Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract, the official said.
The official also said oil and gas developer Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd., or JAPEX (1662.TO), could be one of the companies that the ministry would invite to compete for the field.
One of the condition set by the ministry for companies to sign these EPC contracts is that they should have done joint studies with the ministry or worked in the field before. JAPEX conducted a study on the field recently, the official said.
The East Baghdad oil field was included in Iraq's second oil bidding round announced in December last year. The official said the southern portion of the field had been taken out from the bidding-round process. The northern portion would remain in the second bidding round, he added.
Iraq has issued two bidding rounds, offering 19 oil and gas fields for development to international oil companies with the aim of boosting crude oil output to 6 million barrels a day in five years, from the current 2.4 million barrels a day.
The official said crude oil produced from East Baghdad would be used for feeding the 140,000 barrels-a-day Doura refinery near Baghdad.