BAGHDAD - China's Sinopec Corp sought to pay participation fees to bid for oilfields on offer
in Iraq's second bidding round but was rebuffed, an official
with the Iraqi Oil Ministry said on Sunday.
"Sinopec asked to pay the participation fee to get the data
package but we refused due to the deals they have with the
Kurdish Regional Government," said Sabah Abdul Kadhim, head of
the legal and commercial section of the Petroleum Contracts and
Licensing Directorate.
Abdul Kadhim said more than 40 global oil firms ended up
paying participation fees ahead of the Nov. 20 deadline for the
Dec. 11-12 auction, in which 10 largely undeveloped oilfields
will be up for grabs.
"Those who paid the participation fee will be the only
companies entitled to bid for the fields offered in the second
bidding round," he said.
The participation fees range from $250,000 to $500,000,
depending on the field to be bid on.
Forty-five companies prequalified for the oil auction, the
second since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Only one deal initially emerged from the first auction in
June after oil majors balked at the stiff terms Iraq was
prepared to offer.
But subsequent negotiations have led to agreements on a
series of major oilfields that could catapult Iraqi into third
place in the league of oil-producing nations and deliver it the
billions of dollars it needs to rebuild.
Sinopec has been barred from the second round because of its
purchase of Swiss oil explorer Addax Petroleum Corp, which had
signed deals with the semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities, or
KRG, in northern Iraq.
The KRG and the Arab-led government in Baghdad are at
loggerheads over a range of issues, including oil. The Oil
Ministry considers deals signed by the KRG with oil firms to be
illegal.
"Our position is clear. We will not deal with any oil
companies that sign contracts with the KRG without the approval
of the central government," Abdul Kadhim said.