Iraq opens 11 oil and gas field to foreign companies

Iraqi oil Ministry put forward 11 oil and gas fields to foreign companies in the second round of auctions for service contracts for the development of long-term, it is expected to double the country’s oil production in a few years.

The Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, said that fields in Basra, Maysan,Dhi Qar and the Middle Euphrates, Baghdad, Mosul, Diyala, and Missan.

 
Shahristani predicted that the new fields over the level of production between two and 2.5 million barrels per day in between three and four years to complete the contract at the end of 2009.

 
The parallel increase expected by the Iraqi minister about the size of Iraq’s current production. He pointed out that three of the common fields between Iraq and Iran, Kuwait require development of bilateral deals with the two countries and they do not oppose it.

 
It was in Iraq in June the first round of long-term development contracts included eight major fields of oil and gas.

 
Iraqi oil ministry expects to announce the results of this round by the middle of next year, and the fields produce about 1.5 million barrels a day.

 
According to these expectations will increase Iraq’s production to more than six million bpd within a few years.

 
And Iraq opened the way for foreign companies to extract oil in contravention of the prevailing policy in neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, where state-owned companies control grip on the oil sector.