April 3, 2018//-Exxon Mobil Corp., Total SA and Lukoil PJSC are among the top international companies scrambling for rights to develop Iraqi’s 11 oil and gas border fields.
The 16 companies that expressed interest also include Chevron Corp., Eni SpA, Gazprom PJSC., Zarubezhneft OAO, Petroliam Nasional Bhd., Oil & Natural Gas Corp., Cnooc Ltd., Geo-Jade Petroleum Corp., China ZhenHua Oil Co., United Energy Group Ltd., Dana Gas PJSC, Crescent Petroleum Co. and Dragon Oil Plc, according to an Oil Ministry document circulated recently.
The Oil Ministry’s director-general for upstream oil contracts, Abdul Mahdy Al-Ameedi who disclosed this at an event in Baghdad to show details of the fields to the companies, said Iraq plans to hold a bidding round on April 15 and award service contracts the same day to companies to develop 11 onshore and offshore fields along the borders with Iran and Kuwait.
Iraq which is OPEC’s number two producer has been ramping up crude production and exports over the last few years as the country overcomes decades of conflict and sanctions.
The country has become the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, though it’s now bound by the group’s agreement with other major producers to keep limits on their output to reduce global inventories.
Meanwhile, Iraq produced 4.36 million barrels of crude a day in March, this year.
African Eye Report
