International oil companies are invited to invest in Iraq

Iraqi government sent an invitation to major international oil companies for the first time to contribute in developing local oil industry. This was confirmed by Oil Minister, Hussein Shahrastani, in an interview with the British newspaper "Financial Times" in London; he said that his country is determined to proceed with its plans to raise the current oil production of 2.5 million barrels per day to 6 million a day within five years.

Shahrastani said that major companies made their initial requests to assess their qualifications to obtain leave to develop the Iraqi oil industry by the end of the scheduled date, the 18th of February; this process will lead next year to grant a preliminary contract to develop oil fields in the whole country.

The newspaper commented that the giant oil companies which turned their back to Iraq because of violence and absence of legal legislation are now showing great interest in the process of submission to examine their qualifications; it is their first opportunity to enter the country with the third largest oil stock in the world and low production costs, but they would request more clear legal legislations, and improved security before additional commitment to implement the basic investments