One oil field awarded, many questions remain

Iraq was to end the day Tuesday with oil and gas contracts awarded to eight international oil companies or consortia. Instead, only a BP-led group landed a deal, for Iraq’s super-giant Rumaila field, as one of the gas fields received no bids, and the remaining six oil and gas fields in limbo as the Oil Ministry refused to pay as much of a per barrel fee as the companies wanted.

The ministry was offering 20-year contracts to 41 pre-qualified international firms, including the world’s largest – Exxon Mobil, Shell and Chevron – as well as smaller state companies from China, Russia and India, among others.