A senior Iraqi oil official has said that he believes the next round of auctions for the country’s hydrocarbon assets will be a success so long as the foreign oil companies don’t get “greedy”.
News agency AFP reported that Manaa al-Obaydi, the head of the state-owned North Oil Company (NOC) said that the first auction, held between June 31 and July 1, only awarded one contract because “foreign investors were a little bit greedy”.
“I think the Iraqi government put up a price, which may or may not have been fair, but the bidders came with a price that is four times as much,” Obaydi is reported by AFP as saying.
“It’s okay if it was twice or one and a half times as much, but not four times.”
“I think the second round will be more successful,” he added.
A consortium headed by British supermajor BP and including the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) was the only successful bidder from the first auction. It secured the rights to develop the super giant Rumaila field in southern Iraq.
The next auction, scheduled to occur in November, will over companies the chance to bid for 10 development contracts of 15 fields.
