After months of preparation, and amidst public relations fanfare, Iraq offered six oil fields and two gas fields at a televised public auction to 31 pre-qualified oil companies.
Braving a severe sandstorm and personal risks, senior oil executives arrived in Baghdad to participate in what was meant to be the auction of the century for oil service agreements.
At the end, a consortium of British Petroleum and China National Petroleum Company was the sole winner of the giant Rumaila field in southern Iraq, with reserves estimated at 17 billion barrels.
The conditions set by the Iraqi Oil Ministry were so harsh, and characterized by oil executives as totally unrealistic, that by the end of the day, Wednesday July 1, the oil executives went home empty-handed.
Iraq’s declared objectives of producing six million barrels a day by 2017 will be put on hold for now. Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahristani said that there will be another auction with revised conditions at the end of the year.
Sources: Al-Rafidayn, Al-Zaman, Iraq, July 2, 2009
