Iraq expects more from second energy auction

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The Iraqi government is hoping that a second major auction of oil and gas fields later this year will help revive a struggling oil industry where a first auction this week fell short, a government spokesman said.

“We think that the first (bidding) round didn’t achieve the full objectives of the Ministry of Oil,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Reuters on Saturday.

The auction last Tuesday, Iraq’s first major competitive energy tender in decades and one of the biggest in history, stunned industry insiders when a wide gap between the government and oil majors over payment terms resulted in the sale of just one of eight fields put on the block.

Reuters