Commodity Online
BAGHDAD : Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced Tuesday that BP and China's CNPC International Ltd were the first foreign firms in nearly four decades to win contracts to invest and develop in Iraq's energy sector.

The companies succeeded in their bid for the giant Rumaila oil field in southern Iraq, which has known reserves of 17.7 billion barrels and was the first to be awarded in open tendering for six major oil fields and two gas fields.

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The deals will provide Iraq with much-needed revenue as it struggles to rebuild the country after three wars and more than a decade of debilitating economic sanctions.

The chance to develop six giant oil fields and two gas fields has attracted bids from 31 firms including U.S. and European giants ExxonMobil and Shell but also a swathe of Asian companies from China, India, South Korea and Indonesia.

The ConocoPhillips led consortium was the sole bidder for Iraq's 2.3 billion barrel Bai Hassan oilfield in northern Kirkuk province.

The field, which lies in an area contested between semi-autonomous Kurds and the Arab-led government in Baghdad.

The oil deposits, holding known reserves of 43 billion barrels of crude, are in southern and northern Iraq while the gas concessions are west and northeast of Baghdad.