AFX Europe (Focus): BP, Shell to analyse oilfields in Iraq, train Iraqi engineers (ShellNews.net) 17 Jan 05
Jan 17, 2005
LONDON - BP PLC said it had been selected to carry out a reservoir analysis of the Rumeila oilfield in the south of Iraq, while the Royal Dutch/Shell Group said it has signed a letter of understanding with the Iraqi oil ministry to assist in a similar study of the Kirkuk field in northern Iraq, the Wall Street Journal reported.
BP said its study will be conducted in collaboration with the oil ministry and Iraq's state-controlled South Oil Co. BP said it also will conduct an extensive training program for Iraqi engineers.
Shell also said it is training Iraqi engineers, and the Journal said last year it agreed to help the oil ministry draft a long-term strategy for natural gas development.
Shell said the reservoir study will be led by Exploration Consultants Ltd, a unit of UK petroleum consulting firm ECL Group.
Oil ministry officials in Baghdad weren't available for comment, the Journal said, adding that the ministry hasn't disclosed which other companies competed for the work, though a person familiar with the bidding said a unit of Halliburton Co submitted a bid.
It said the contracts are the most significant so far of a handful of technical and service agreements awarded by the Iraqi oil ministry in recent months. The contracts do not include oil exploration or production rights, but they could help cement relationships between foreign executives and Iraqi oil officials.
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