Chinese companies won five more bids to explore Iraqi oil and gas fields, Iraq’s oil minister said on Sunday, as the Middle Eastern country’s hydrocarbon exploration licensing round continued into its second day, reports Reuters. Chinese companies have been the only foreign players to win bids so far, taking licenses covering 10 oil and gas fields since Saturday, while Iraqi Kurdish company KAR Group took two.
The oil and gas licences for 29 projects in total are mainly aimed at ramping up output for domestic use, with more than 20 companies pre-qualifying, including European, Chinese, Arab and Iraqi groups.
Iraq wanted this licensing round—the country’s sixth—in particular to increase output of natural gas, that it wants to use to fire power plants that rely heavily on gas imported from Iran. However, no bids were made on at least six fields with gas potential, potentially undermining those efforts.