Iraq to bid three gas fields in September

Iraqi government has invited international energy companies to bid for three natural gas fields that will be auctioned in September, hoping to boost production to fund the country’s reconstruction program. On offer will be the Akkas, Mansouriya and Siba gas blocks, whose combined reserves are at 318 billion cubic meters of the commodity. The country has just finalized a US$ 4 billion gas deal with Royal Dutch Shell, which is entering a joint venture with state-owned South Gas to extract gas from fields near the city of Basra.

The Middle Eastern country is rumoured to joint the Nabucco gas pipeline venture, overcoming the project’s biggest problem so far: the lack of committed gas providers to make the project viable. Also, the oil fields of Iraq are far from being fully explored: about only 20% of them have been developed.