Amman, Jordan (Platts)--9Jan2008
The Iraqi oil ministry's newly formed Directorate of Petroleum Contracts
and Licensing has published its request to international oil companies to
present prequalification documents to the directorate by January 31 ahead of a
forthcoming licensing round.
The announcement, published on a government website Monday, says that
"only selected, eligible companies will be invited to participate in the
competition for upstream sector projects, which will be declared within the
licensing round soon."
The announcement added: "It should be noted that the registration of
companies in the Republic of Iraq is a prerequisite for companies to
participate in any session of the licenses."
The required prequalification documentation attached to the announcement
is extensive and contains, apart from the standard qualification form, a list
of requirements needed to meet the criteria set out by the directorate,
including legal criteria, certificates of good standing, financial status as
well as health, safety and environmental qualifications.
Some of the items in the detailed qualification forms ask the companies
to list previous experience working in the Iraqi oil industry, particularly in
the fields of training and technical assistance, indicating that these
companies may be rewarded somehow for their previous cooperation.
Sources close to the ministry told Platts that the purpose is to build a
database of international oil companies that are interested in participating
in Iraqi upstream development projects, and also to keep these companies
interested in Iraqi development projects.
The Iraqi ministry appears to be proceeding with its plan to launch the
country's first post-war licensing round without waiting for a federal
hydrocarbon law, which is being held hostage by Iraq's sectarian politics.
Under a draft oil and gas law submitted to parliament late last year a
proposed Federal Oil and Gas Council, to be created once the law is enacted,
would have had the task of setting criteria for qualification by
multinationals and negotiate contracts.
But Baghdad has viewed with alarm the rush of oil companies which have
snapped up production-sharing deals awarded unilaterally by the Kurdistan
Regional Government and appears to have now decided to proceed with its own
development plans in order to boost oil production capacity, which is still
below the 2.8 million b/d average achieved in the last three months leading up
to the war of March 2003.
--Faleh al-Khayat, newsdesk@platts.com
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