They still are coming inMany companies still trying to get their foot in the door , regardless.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE Nippon To Hold Talks On Iraq Oil Field Deal Sunday
AMMAN (Dow Jones)--Representatives of a Japanese consortium led byNippon Oil Corp. (5001.TO) will meet Sunday with Iraqi oil ministryofficials to finalize a deal to develop Nassiriyah oil field insouthern Iraq, a senior Iraqi oil official said Thursday.
"I have been informed to meet with Nippon on Sunday," said SabahAbdulkadhem al-Saadi, head of the legal and commercial department atthe oil ministry's Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate.
Saadi said the meetings which are likely to be spread over a fewdays starting Sunday, are expected to finalize an engineering,procurement and construction deal to develop Nassiriyah oil field.
"If they [Nippon's representatives] agree to our conditions, wecould draft an agreement and sign it," Saadi told Dow Jones Newswiresby telephone from Baghdad.
Nippon would also meet with the deputy oil minister Ahmad al-Shammaa, another ministry official said.
A meeting between the Japanese consortium and the oil ministryscheduled for earlier this month was postponed because the Nipponrepresentatives were then unable to reach the Iraqi oil ministry'sheadquarters in Baghdad due to traffic jams and the security situation.
Nippon, which is teaming up with Japan's Inpex Corp. (1605.TO) andJGC Corp. (1963.TO), would invest up to $8 billion to take output fromthe field to 200,000 barrels a day in 24 months of development, fromthe current 20,000 barrels a day.
Italy's Eni SpA (E), which was also pursuing the project, lastmonth said it was unlikely to bid for it. Eni signed an initialagreement with Baghdad to develop another Iraqi oil field, Zubair inthe south. The deal is still awaiting the approval of the Iraqi Councilof Ministers.
The cabinet would also need to approve an initial agreement signedwith Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) todevelop the super-giant West Qurna-1 oil field.
Iraq signed earlier this month a final deal with U.K. major BP PLC(BP) and China National Petroleum Corp. to develop Rumaila, Iraq'slargest producing oil field.
Developing these three fields Rumaila, Zubair and West Qurna-1could take Iraq's crude oil production up to 6 million barrels a day insix or seven years. Iraq is currently producing around 2.5 millionbarrels a day.
It is aiming to sign five-year engineering, procurement andconstruction contract to develop the Nassiriyah field, which is locatedin the Dhi Qar governorate and has estimated proven reserves of 4.4billion barrels. The field isn't included in the government's two oiland gas bidding rounds.