FACTBOX-Iraq's oil sector opens its doors

For the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein, foreign oil companies will get a chance to work on Iraq’s oil reserves when Baghdad auctions off contracts to develop six of its most prized oilfields on June 29-30.

Two undeveloped gas fields are also on offer.

Criticism from within the Iraqi state-run oil industry, pressure on the oil minister, and the terms of the contracts themselves make the deals risky and troublesome, but global oil firms say the potential is tantalising.
Reuters