Baghdad, December 12: Iraq is on course to become one of the world largest exporters of oil after international companies caved in yesterday by accepting low fees to develop the country’s vast unexploited crude reserves.
Representatives of 44 oil companies ignored the recent devastating bomb attacks in Baghdad to cram into a hall in the Oil Ministry to bid for contracts to increase production in Iraq’s biggest oilfields.
The companies are so eager to get a foothold in the Iraqi oil sector that they are largely accepting tough Iraqi government terms, which many of them rejected at a previous auction in Baghdad six months ago.
The intense interest of the international oil industry in Iraq is fuelled by belief that it may have reserves, rivalling Saudi Arabia, which have gone unexploited or undiscovered during 30 years of war, rebellion and sanctions. The super-giant fields of south-east Iraq are the largest concentration of such fields in the world, according to experts.
–Agencies