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BAGHDAD, Dec 18 - Iraq will announce a new bidding round on Dec. 29 for an unspecified number of long-term oil and gas contracts, an Oil Ministry official said on Thursday.Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said that
Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani would kick off the bidding round for service contracts at a conference at the
Oil Ministry in Baghdad.
He declined to reveal how many fields were involved but said details would be divulged at the conference.
"The Iraqi
Oil Ministry is keen to speed up efforts to develop Iraqi
oil fields as much as possible to increase both production and
export rates," Jihad said.
Iraq announced a first bidding round for long-term contracts for eight big
oil and gas fields in June of this year.
Jihad said
Iraq, which sits on the
oil reserves and is looking to cement deals with global
oil majors, would announce a third bidding round six months later.
