Companías petroleras rechazan los términos de Irak para los contratos

Oil firms reject Iraq terms for contracts
Tuesday, 30 June 2009 16:55
Foreign energy companies have snubbed Iraq by rejecting all but one deal for rights to the country's oil and gas sector, in what had been the first such opportunity in nearly four decades.

Bidding descended into near farce in Baghdad when Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani asked companies to resubmit their bids after deals were rejected by Chinese, US, Italian, British, Dutch and South Korean energy firms.

The service contracts offered by Baghdad were based on companies accepting a fixed fee per barrel of oil extracted from six fields offered, rather than an equity stake.

AdvertisementDoubts had been raised by foreign companies in the run-up to the bidding about having to partner with Iraqi state-owned firms and the requirement to share management of the fields.

British energy giant BP and China's CNPC International Ltd were the only bid winners, accepting a $2 per barrel deal to work in the giant Rumaila oil field in southern Iraq, which has known reserves of 17.7bn barrels.

However, after a day of bidding there were no successful tenders for the remaining five oil fields due to a gulf in what foreign firms wanted and what the government was willing to pay.

China's CNOOC and Sinopec wanted $25.40 dollars per barrel extracted from the Maysan field in southern Iraq but the government offered them only $2.30.

The US energy giant ConocoPhillips, meanwhile, asked for $26.70 dollars per barrel to work in the Bai Hassan oil field but the government offered $4.0.

The government was dealt another blow when a consortium featuring Sinopec, Italy's Eni Medio Orient SpA, America's Occidental Petroleum and South Korea's Korea Gas Corp (Kogas) withdrew from bidding for the Zubair oil field.

Separately, no bids were received to work in the Mansuriya gas field and an offer for the other gas site, from Italy's Edison SpA, was dropped.

The tender process attracted offers from 31 firms including US and European giants ExxonMobil and Shell and a swathe of companies from China, India, South Korea and Indonesia.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki underlined at the session's opening that Iraq needs oil money to rebuild the country after three wars and more than a decade of debilitating economic sanctions.


The oil deposits, holding known reserves of 43bn barrels of crude, are in southern and northern Iraq while the gas concessions are west and northeast of Baghdad.

Iraq said on Monday it has failed to sign technical support agreements with global oil majors which were aimed at helping boost the war-torn country's oil production.
Iraq is negotiating with Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron and Total, and a consortium of other smaller oil companies, Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said at press briefing.
"We did not finalise any agreement with them because they refused to offer consultancy based on fees, as they wanted a share of the oil," he said.
"The TSAs (technical support agreements) are only simple consultancy contracts to help us raise the production during the interim period" before the ministry enters into long-term contracts to develop the oil and gas fields.
Last week, oil ministry spokesman Asim Jihad told AFP that it would sign the support contracts on Monday and award longer term deals to 41 other energy companies.
Iraq wants to ramp up output by 500,000 barrels per day from the current average production of 2.5 million bpd, about equal to the amount being pumped before the US-led invasion in March 2003.
Exports of 2.11 million bpd currently form the bulk of the war-torn nation's revenues, and the oil ministry is keen to raise capacity over the next five years to 4.5 million bpd.
Iraq's crude reserves are estimated at about 115 billion barrels, but it is sorely lacking in infrastructure and the latest technology to which it was denied access under years of international sanctions after the 1991 Gulf War.


http://www.france24.com/en/20080630-iraq-fails-sign-contracts-with-global-oil-majors-0

Empresas de petróleo del Iraq rechazar los términos de los contratos
Martes, 30 de junio de 2009 16:55
Las empresas energéticas extranjeras han snubbed Irak rechazando todos menos uno para hacer frente a los derechos del país de petróleo y gas, en lo que había sido la primera de esas oportunidades en casi cuatro décadas.

Licitación descendió a cerca de farsa en Bagdad cuando el Ministro del Petróleo Hussein al-Shahristani pidió a las empresas a volver a sus ofertas tras ofertas fueron rechazadas por China, EE.UU., italiano, británico, holandés de Corea del Sur y las empresas de energía.

Los contratos de servicios ofrecidos por Bagdad se basaron en las empresas de aceptar una tasa fija por cada barril de petróleo extraído de los campos que ofrece seis, en lugar de una participación de capital.

AdvertisementDoubts había sido planteada por las empresas extranjeras en el período previo a la licitación de tener iraquíes de colaborar con las empresas de propiedad estatal y la obligación de compartir la gestión de los campos.

Gigante energético británico BP y la china CNPC International Ltd. fueron los únicos ganadores de la oferta, la aceptación de un 2 dólares por barril frente a trabajar en el gigantesco campo petrolero de Rumaila, en el sur de Iraq, que ha conocido 17.7bn de barriles de reservas.

Sin embargo, después de un día de la licitación no hubo éxito de las ofertas para los otros cinco campos de petróleo debido a una brecha en lo que las empresas extranjeras y lo que quería el gobierno estaba dispuesto a pagar.

La china CNOOC y Sinopec quería $ 25,40 dólares por barril extraído de la provincia de Maysan campo en el sur de Iraq, pero el Gobierno les ofreció sólo $ 2.30.

Los EE.UU. gigante energético ConocoPhilips, mientras tanto, pidió por $ 26,70 dólares por barril para el trabajo en el campo petrolero Bai Hassan, pero el gobierno ofreció $ 4.0.

El gobierno se trató otro golpe cuando un consorcio con Sinopec, la italiana Eni SpA, Medio Oriente, América del Occidental Petroleum y de Corea del Sur Corea del Gas Corp (Kogas) se retiran de la licitación para el campo petrolero de Zubair.

Por otra parte, no se han recibido ofertas para trabajar en el campo de gas y Mansuriya una oferta para el otro sitio de gas, de Edison SpA de Italia, fue eliminado.

El proceso de licitación atrajo a 31 ofertas de empresas de EE.UU. y Europa incluyendo gigantes ExxonMobil y Shell y una franja de empresas de China, India, Corea del Sur e Indonesia.

Primer Ministro Nuri al-Maliki destacó en la apertura de la reunión que el Iraq necesita el dinero del petróleo para reconstruir el país después de tres guerras y más de una década de debilitantes sanciones económicas.


Los yacimientos de petróleo, con reservas conocidas de 43bn de barriles de crudo, están en el sur y el norte de Irak mientras que el gas concesiones al oeste y el noreste de Bagdad.

Baghdad - Former Iraqi oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Aloum on Wednesday urged the Iraqi government to reconsider its terms after most companies balked at the government's offers.

Thirty-two companies gathered in Baghdad's Rashid Hotel on Tuesday to vie for rights to develop eight Iraqi oil and gas fields, but at the end of the day, only a consortium led by British Petroleum (BP) was willing to accept the terms the Iraqi Oil Ministry offered.

A consortium led by BP and the China National Petroleum and Chemical Corporation won the rights to develop the Rumaila field in exchange for a cut of 2 US dollars a barrel and a promise to boost the field's production from roughly 1 million barrels per day (b/d) to 2.85 million b/d in six years' time.

The group had initially sought 3.99 US dollars per barrel, nearly twice the margin it eventually accepted.

'The Rumaila deal was an important achievement for the ministry,' Bahr al-Aloum told the German Press Agency dpa. 'But we cannot expect one ideal contract to fit all the fields. The ministry should reconsider its terms.'

Bahr al-Aloum was Iraq's first oil minister following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

'There were several reasons behind the disagreement between the ministry and the international oil companies,' he said. 'The companies did not present suitable bids for the other seven contracts.

'We must admit that this is a new experiment and that there are risks, and we should re-evaluate. These oil fields are productive and differ according to their reserves and the investment needed,' Bahr al-Aloum said.

Hussein al-Shahristani, Iraq's current oil minister, has been under increasing domestic political pressure to boost oil production, which accounts for 90 per cent of Iraq's national income.

At the opening of bidding, he said he expected the new international investments from the deals he hoped to strike would contribute a total of 1.7 trillion dollars to the Iraqi economy over 20 years.

Al-Shahristani, in comments published in Baghdad's al-Sabbah newspaper after the bidding closed, appeared unbowed by the international companies' lack of interest.

'The ministry does not care about the rest of the companies that did not win contracts, because the ministry fixed the price per barrel based on the interests of the nation and the Iraqi people,' he said.

Al-Shahristani called on companies to 'reconsider their bids, because the prices the ministry set were reasonable.'

Estimates of Iraq's total oil reserves range from between 115-215 billion barrels.

While Iraqi oil is technically easier and cheaper to extract than that of most other countries, a law governing its petroleum resources remains stalled in parliament, and militants continue to launch lethal and near-daily attacks, adding to the risks and costs of doing business there.




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