Statoil ASA (STO) is looking at potential partnerships with other companies in Iraq as it positions itself ready to take a share in the country's oil wealth, its chief financial officer said Wednesday.
CFO Eldar Saetre said Statoil "lost by a margin" in the country's first oil-bidding round, held in June, but has been positioning itself and working together with the Iraqis for five or six years and sees Iraq as "a very exciting hydrocarbon province."
"We have seen what we did wrong [in the first round] and are looking at partnerships we could proceed with going into the second round," Saetre said.
He added that Statoil is in a better position to address a so-called "greenfield" oil bidding round comprised of new licenses than "brownfield" rounds comprised of existing oil discoveries.