By Nayla Razzouk
Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and OAO Gazprom are among 13 companies interested in bidding next month to develop natural-gas fields in Iraq, said a senior member of the country’s parliament.
Among the other companies registered to bid are Eni Spa, Mitsubishi Corp. and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Abdul Hadi al-Hassani, vice chairman of the parliament’s oil and gas committee, said in an interview in Istanbul today. The bidding round for gas rights is planned for Oct. 20 in Baghdad.
“There is strong interest from the big majors, and this is excellent,” Hassani said. “We care more about the fact that big majors are interested, rather than in the number of bidders.”
Preparations for bidding are proceeding well and according to schedule, he said on the sidelines of a conference about Iraq’s energy industry.
Iraq, reliant on oil for most of its income, seeks foreign investors in all parts of its economy after years of conflict and sanctions. The country held two licensing rounds last year for oil and gas investments.
The third round will focus specifically on the Akkas, Mansouriya and Siba gas fields, which Iraq is eager to develop for domestic power generation as well as export revenue. The three undeveloped fields hold combined gas reserves of more than 11 trillion cubic feet.
Iraq has the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves and wants to more than double its current crude production of 2.4 million barrels a day.