The companies selected from the 38 which submitted bids in a tender process launched on December 31 are Rosneft and Tatneft of Russia, Kazakh firm KazMunaiGas Exploration Production, PetroVietnam, Angola's Sonangol, Pakistan Petroleum, JOGMEC of Japan, Oil India and Britain's Cairn Energy PLC.
These companies will be invited to take part in a second round of bidding, the oil ministry said.
The development of the fields could help boost Iraqi oil production by up to 2.5 million barrels per day, Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said in December at the launch of the tender invitation.
Author: Ksenia Kochneva
