The petroleum contracts and licensing directorate of the Iraqi oil ministry approved Rosneft and Tatneft from Russia, KazMunaiGaz Exploration and Production from Kazakhstan, PetroVietnam, Angola's Sonangol, Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp, the UK's Cairn Energy and Oil India.
As well as these nine companies, the 35 IOCs approved for the first bid round, launched in mid-2008, will also be invited to participate in the second bid round.
«The Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate will announce and inform all qualified companies of subsequent steps for the second bidding round in due time," the statement said.
The second bid round contains 11 field groups with 16 oil fields, and the successful bids are expected to be announced by the end of the year.
Author: Ksenia Kochneva
