Asian firms on Iraq shortlist for oil deals

Asian companies are among nine firms shortlisted by the Iraqi oil ministry for contracts in 11 oil and gas fields, according to a document obtained by AFP on Saturday.

The companies selected from the 38 which submitted bids in a tender process launched on December 31 are Rosneft and Tatneft of Russia, Kazakh firm KazMunaiGas Exploration Production, PetroVietnam, Angola's Sonangol, Pakistan Petroleum, JOGMEC of Japan, Oil India and Britain's Cairn Energy PLC.

These companies will be invited to take part in a second round of bidding, the oil ministry said.

The development of the fields could help boost Iraqi oil production by up to 2.5 million barrels per day, Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said in December at the launch of the tender invitation.

That launch came six months after the initial offering of development contracts in six other oil fields and two gas fields.

When the fields on offer in both rounds of bidding are in full production, within four or five years, Iraq should be able to pump six million bpd, up from current output of around 2.2 million, Shahristani said.

Iraq has the world's third largest proven reserves of oil, with more than 115 billion barrels, behind only Saudi Arabia and Iran.