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Britain's BP, Chinese oil firm win Iraq deals

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-01 10:31

BAGHDAD: British energy giant BP and China's Chinese National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) International Ltd won a deal to develop Iraq's biggest oilfield but had to slash its fee as Baghdad's tough terms put off other investors in the country's first major energy auction since the US-led invasion in 2003.

General view of an oil refinery in the southern Rumaila area. Energy giant BP and China's CNPC International Ltd have been unveiled as the first foreign firms in decades to win contracts to invest and develop in Iraq's war-battered energy sector. [Agencies]

Other companies, including firms from China and India that are eager to get a share of the world's third largest oil reserves, balked at the fees and Iraq failed to strike deals on the remaining seven oil and gas fields on offer.

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The controversial auction of Iraq's prized assets took place on the same day that the US troops who toppled Saddam Hussein quit Iraq's cities and left security chiefly to the country's own forces. The sale aims to raise funds for reconstruction as Iraq also takes greater charge of its economy.

"Today we have seen that the Iraqi Oil Ministry and international oil companies are living on different planets," oil analyst Ruba Husari said.

The results of the auction were not a disappointment, said Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad.

"The participation of these well-known, major companies is a good sign and it reflects the desire of these firms to invest in the Iraqi oil sector," Jihad said.

Iraq's Oil Ministry asked companies to submit revised bids at the end of the auction. Seven did, but they were not made public. The bids would be handed to the Iraqi cabinet for a decision, an official close to the process said.

The sale was billed as the first chance since Iraq nationalised its oil in 1972 for major foreign companies to get a run at the country's hydrocarbon reserves, much of which are untapped. But many Iraqi critics said it was a bad bargain.

Foreign companies servicing the fields will be paid per barrel of oil produced above a certain amount.

BP and CNPC Grab Sole Deal

The BP-led consortium including the CNPC, was the only foreign group to strike a deal -- for the 17-billion barrel Rumaila oilfield, Iraq's biggest, in the Shi'ite south.

The deal only went down after an Exxon Mobil-led group rejected the government's proposed fee.

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