The Iraqi oil ministry had been expected to announce the deals
with companies such as Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total and BHP
Billiton on Monday.
But Hussein al-Shahristani, the oil minister, told a news conference
that the deals had not yet been concluded as the companies wanted a
share of the profits.
"We did not finalise any agreement with them because they refused
to offer consultancy based on fees as they wanted a share of the
oil," he said.
"The TSAs [technical support agreements] are only simple consultancy
contracts to help us raise the production during the interim period"
before the ministry enters into long-term contracts to develop the
oil and gas fields.
The contracts would not allow investments by the foreign companies in
the oil sector but would pave the way for global energy giants to return
to Iraq, 36-years after being told to leave by Saddam Hussein,
Iraq's former president.
'No privileges'
Shahristani stressed that Iraq needed the services of experienced
companies to realise the potential of its reserves but added that it
was not ready to do so at any price.
"It is not possible for Iraq which has large oil reserves to stay at
the current level of production. Iraq should be the second or the
third source of oil exportation," the minister said.
"We went to these global companies and asked them to offer us
consultancy but they will have no privileges or will not get a share
of oil."
The head of British-Dutch oil company Shell said on Monday that he
still hoped to sign a deal with the Iraqi government but suggested
that the process could take months.
"I hope it [a deal] is within weeks and not months," Jeroen van der
Veer, the chief executive, told reporters on the sidelines of the
World Petroleum Congress.
Antonio Brufau, the head of Spanish oil group Repsol YPF, said that
"many things have to be clarified before signing in Iraq".
Extraction contracts
The oil ministry also plans to sign longer-term contracts for
extracting oil with 41 other foreign energy companies, according to
officials.
"We chose 35 companies of international standard, according to their
finances, environment and experience, and we granted them permission
to extract oil," Asim Jihad, oil ministry spokesman, said.
Six other state-owned oil firms from Algeria, Angola, Pakistan,
Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam have also been selected to compete for
extraction deals.
Jihad said the selected companies will have the first right to
develop the fields once competitive bidding comes after the nation's
long-delayed hydrocarbons law is passed by parliament.
Iraq wants to increase oil output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) from
the current average production of 2.5 million bpd, equal to the amount
being pumped before the US-led invasion in March 2003.
Exports of 2.11 million bpd currently form the bulk of the war-torn
nation's revenues.
The oil ministry is keen to raise capacity over the next five years
to 4.5 million bpd.
Iraq's crude reserves are estimated at about 115 billion barrels.
However, Iraq's oil is lacking in infrastructure and the latest technology,
because it was denied access under years of international sanctions
after the 1991 Gulf War.
