IOCs invited to comment on Iraqi model contract

Iraq's Oil Ministry has sent out a model contract to IOCs pre-qualified to bid in its first licensing round, giving the companies the opportunity to comment on them until 1 April.

"We had sent out to bidding companies on March 19 a semifinal version of the model contract," Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, deputy director-general at Iraq's Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCDL), told Dow Jones, adding that "companies would have two and half months to study the final model contract and submit their offers by the end of June this year".