BAGHDAD, Jul 02, 2009 (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki denied on Thursday that the nation's oil auction for foreign companies had been a failure.
"We cannot talk about failure," he told reporters in Baghdad. "The government and the oil ministry will not stop working to resume the investment that Iraq will need."
Only one deal, involving British energy giant BP and China's CNPC International Ltd, was struck during the high-profile event on Tuesday, when five other oil fields and two gas sites were also offered for development.
"Some companies succeeded, others did not," Maliki said. "The oil ministry will think about how to exploit the oil resources of Iraq."
Doubts had been raised by international companies in the run-up to the bidding about having to partner with state-owned firms and the requirement to share management of the fields, despite fully financing their development.
BP and CNPC accepted two dollars per barrel to work in the giant Rumaila oil field in southern Iraq, which has known reserves of 17.7 billion barrels, making it much the biggest field on offer.
It was the first time Iraq's oil industry had been opened up to foreign compnanies since being nationalised four decades ago.
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Copyright AFP 2009.
