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The Japanese consortium planning to spend US$8 billion developing the Nassiriya oilfield and the Iraq oil ministry have still not reached agreement on conditions and the situation has led a government official to speculate that the deal could be in jeopardy.
Dow Jones reported that a senior official from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has said that there could be a second tender waiting in the wings in the Nippon Oil-led consortium pulls out.
The major point of disagreement seems to be concerns over who is responsible for safety at the field.
“It seems there is a huge gap in who takes major responsibility to secure safety for workers and facilities between the two sides,” the METI official is quoted by Dow Jones as saying.
Nippon Oil and it’s fellow Japanese partners Inpex and JGC have seen off some stiff competition for the contract to run Nassiriya. Other contenders for the contract included Italian supermajor Eni.
The Iraq Oil Ministry hopes that Nassiriya will yield 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) within two years rising to 600,000 bpd after that. The contract includes the construction of both refining and power-generating facilities.
