The Iraqi Government recently announced the third licensing round to attract foreign companies to develop three non-associated natural gas fields.

Two of the three gas fields on offer were open to bids in the first
licensing round but no bids were made for the Mansuriya field and the
Akkas field only attracted one bid, which was unsuccessful.

In this briefing, the Herbert Smith lawyers that were involved in
examining the Mansuriya project offer some insights into the
challenges that are likely to arise in relation to the new bid round.