Foreign Companies Snap Up Iraqi Oil Rights; U.S. Shut Out

Foreign energy companies came away with lucrative energy rights during Saturday’s second round of oil license auctions by the Iraqi government. Russia’s Lukoil won big and will be partnering with Norway’s Statoil to develop Iraq’s supergiant West Qurna Phase Two oil field in southern Iraq. Another Russian company, state-controlled Gazprom, led a group that will be developing the Badrah field.

Royal Dutch Shell was another big winner. The European firm won the contract for the the 12.6 billion barrel supergiant Majnoon field in partnership with the Malaysian national oil company, Petronas. Angola’s Sonogal was the sole bidder on two fields in northern Iraq.

None of the major U.S. oil companies submitted bids.

“The results of the bid round should lay to rest the old canard that the U.S. intervened in Iraq to secure Iraqi oil for American companies,” said Philip Frayne, a spokesman at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

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