U.S. Oil Companies Lose Out in Iraq Oil Auction By Carola Hoyos
Published: December 13 2009 20:19 | Last updated: December 13 2009 20:19
US oil groups were all but shut out from Iraq as it completed the biggest oil field auction in history.
European groups, including Royal Dutch Shell, Lukoil and Gazprom, and Asian groups, such as China’s CNPC and Malaysia’s Petronas, were the main winners at Iraq’s second oil auction, which completed the sale of its large fields.
Thamir Ghadhban, a prime ministerial adviser and former oil minister, said: “We haven’t really seen US companies, and that is because of intense competition . . . The issue is financial and technical and not at all political.
“This confirms Iraq can manage its oil policy and activities without politicisation.”
Iraq has auctioned off more proved oil reserves than are held by the US, Mexico and UK combined.
Lukoil, Russia’s biggest private oil company, together with Norway’s Statoil, on Saturday won the right to develop the West Qurna 2 field, which it had been coveting for more than a decade.
Other winners on Saturday included Russia’s Gazprom and Sonangol, the Angolan state oil company, which was willing to commit to developing fields in one of Iraq’s most dangerous regions.
On Friday, the first day of the latest auction, Royal Dutch Shell won the right to develop Majnoon, becoming the second UK company to secure one of Iraq’s biggest fields. Shell will partner Petronas, which was one of the most active companies in the auction.
Also on Friday, CNPC, the Chinese state oil company, plus Total of France and Petronas, won the right to develop Halfaya, another sizable field.
In June, BP became the first western oil group to be allowed back into Iraq in more than 30 years, reversing the nationalisation of Iraq’s oil industry in 1972.
Iraq’s cabinet has since ratified the agreement and BP, together with China’s CNPC, are soon to begin repairing and developing Rumaila, Iraq’s biggest oil field. All the other deals still await ratification.
In November, ExxonMobil, which won the rights to the West Qurna 1 field development, became the only US company to lead a winning bid, while California’s Occidental is the only US group to have won a deal as a junior partner.
Chevron, the US’s second biggest oil company, has been absent, even though it had studied Iraq’s oil fields closely and was expected to bid. Insiders say the group was hampered by its conservative, risk-averse board.
ConocoPhillips, the US’s third biggest oil company, which was expected to bid with Lukoil on West Qurna 2, was also absent. Analysts point out that ConocoPhillips is struggling more than its peers financially.
Companies have promised within a decade to boost Iraq’s oil production by at least 8.5m barrels a day to 11m b/d, more than Saudi Arabia produces.
