ONGC loses Halfaya oilfield in Iraq to Chinese-led group

New Delhi, Dec 11 (PTI) State-owned Oil and Natural Gas
Corp's losing streak in Iraq continued Friday when it lost the
bid to develop Iraq's giant Halfaya oilfield to a consortium
led by a Chinese firm.

ONGC Videsh, its overseas investment arm, teamed up with
state-run Oil India Ltd and Turkish Petroleum Corp (TPAO) to
bid for the third largest field on offer in Iraq's second
post-war bid round today, company sources said.
A group led by China National Petroleum Corp bid lower
than the USD 1.76 per barrel fee OVL and partners sought for
boosting output from Halfaya field to 550,000 barrels per day.
CNPC, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and Total SA
offered to boost production to 535,000 bpd from current 3,000
bpd at a cost of USD 1.40 a barrel. The Halfaya oilfield has
estimated reserves of 4.1 billion barrels of oil, they said.
The Chinese held 50 per cent stake in the group, while
Total of France and Malaysia's Petronas hold 25 percent each.
OVL had, in the first round in June, lost the Zubair
oilfield when it along with OAO Gazprom of Russia and TPAO had
asked for a remuneration that was about five times higher than
USD 1.90-2 a barrel that Baghdad was willing to pay.
TPAO had a 50 per cent in the group that bid today while
OVL held 30 per cent. OIL had the remaining 20 per cent.
Petronas teamed up with Royal Dutch Shell to also win
Iraq's super-giant Majnoon oilfield. MORE PTI ANZ
DDC


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