Shell lands Iraqi oilfield deal

Dec 12 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal

ROYAL Dutch Shell has landed one of only two deals in the latest auction of Iraqi oil assets. The Anglo-Dutch oil giant, in partnership with Malaysia’s state-run Petronas Carigali, secured rights to the Manjoon field in the Basra region.

The joint venture beat a consortium of France’s Total and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), to develop what is one of the largest oilfields in the world.

The Shell-Petronas consortium will receive US$1.39 a barrel produced from the field. The companies said they would raise production from the current 45,900 barrels per day to 1.8 million barrels per day over a 10-year period.

The auctions are being staged 30 years after Saddam Hussein nationalised the oil sector and kicked out foreign firms.

The inaugural auction in June flopped as Iraq secured just one deal with BP out of eight oil and gas fields put out to tender.

A total of 15 fields were up for grabs yesterday and today, representing about one third of the country’s reserves. However, five of those in troubled parts of the country have been withdrawn and another attracted a single bid.