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View Full Version : Iraq delays gas auction, more firms join race



Jwdwrd
09-19-2010, 09:32 AM
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/09/19/iraq-delays-gas-auction-firms-join-race/

By Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Iraq has postponed an auctionfor three gas fields for the second time, to Oct. 20, after somecompanies asked for more time to study contract terms, an Iraqioil official said on Sunday.

The bidding round was to have taken place on Oct. 1, afterbeing pushed back by a month before.

"Eight companies asked the Oil Ministry to postpone theauction to give them more time to study the final tenderprotocol after the ministry made some amendments," Abdul-Mahdyal-Ameedi, head of the Iraqi oil ministry's licensing andcontracting office, told Reuters.

Ameedi also said that Italy's Eni and Japan's Mitsubishi have paid participation fees for Iraq's third bidding round,bringing the number of companies expected to join the auction upto 13. One or two more companies are expected to pay theparticipation fees in the coming few days, he added.

Iraq will tender gas fields at Akkas in the western desert,Iraq's Sunni heartland and once an al Qaeda stronghold,Mansuriyah near the Iranian border in volatile Diyala province,and Siba in the relatively peaceful southern oil hub of Basra.

The three fields together have estimated reserves of around11.23 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The companies registered for the auction include Italy'sEdison, France's Total, South Korea's KOGAS, and Russia's TNK-BP. Firms had registered for the auction and paid the necessaryfees, and received final versions of the model contract earlierthis month.

Iraq, starved of power after years of war, sanctions andeconomic decline, hopes opening its gas sector to foreigninvestment will boost its power capacity. More than seven yearsafter the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq's national grid only suppliesa few hours of power each day. (Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Hans Peters)