Wednesday September 13, 3:53 PM
Iraq 'needs $A33b in oil investment'
Iraq needs $US25 billion ($A33.35 billion) in investment to increase its oil production from 2.5 million barrels a day to in excess of six million barrels, the country's energy council says.
"Some $US25 billion over the next five to six years is needed in order to develop oil production to in excess of six million barrels a day," said Thamir Ghadhban, an advisor to the Iraqi prime minister and a member of the Iraqi Energy Council.
Mr Ghadhban also said he expects that new petroleum laws regulating the Iraqi oil market, becoming active early next year, will see the breakdown of the state monopoly, although the reserves will remain the property of the Iraqi people.
He said talks between Iraq and the private sector had begun in 2003 and that a number of agreements were signed for services technical assistance, such as training.
"For specific negotiations on development or exploration, we are waiting until the petroleum law is passed so we have a legal venue so all talks will be legally protected," he said.
But he did say that informal talks are ongoing with international and Australian representatives.
Mr Ghadhban said pipelines and related infrastructure in the south of the country is fairly safe and the government is actively trying to improve security elsewhere.
"I know that many of them (international operators) are interested in coming and working in Iraq as soon as they feel they are safe and secure," he said.
Iraq is thought to have 115 billion barrels of oil reserves and an estimated 110 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.