February 15, 2011Iraq Plans New Oil and Gas Auction
BAGHDAD—The Iraqi government plans to hold a new oil and gas licensing auction later this year as it gears up for a major push to increase oil output and capture natural gas for electricity generation, a senior Iraqi oil official said.
Iraq has held three bidding rounds in the past few years to auction off 15 of the country's most prized oil and gas fields. However, the oil-rich nation's proven reserves, estimated at 143 billion barrels, could fall sharply within a few years if the country doesn't get serious now about exploring for more oil, said Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, head of the country's petroleum contracts office, an oil ministry affiliate.
The Iraqi central government has begun "serious preparations" to hold a fourth bidding round in the final quarter of the year, Mr. Ameedi told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview late Monday in his office at the oil ministry in Baghdad.
Iraq also needs to boost gas production and build more gas-fired power plants to increase its power output, currently at 6,500 megawatts, which is less than half the country's needs, he said.
Iraqi oil officials are optimistic that major international oil companies will meet their pledges to significantly increase the country's oil production. They say Iraq could increase oil output to as much as 8 million barrels a day by 2018, though oil analysts expect that target to take longer to achieve.
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