IRAQ OIL MINISTRY ASKS BIDS FOR 3-D SEISMIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000926 SIPDIS SIPDIS DOE FOR AHEGBERG; DOE FOR GPERSON; STATE FOR NEA AND EEB E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2018 TAGS: ECON EPET IZ SUBJECT: IRAQ OIL MINISTRY ASKS BIDS FOR 3-D SEISMIC (KIRKUK; RUMAILA) & GAS DEVELOPMENT (AKKAS) Classified By: CETI AMBASSADOR C. RIES for reasons 1.4b, d. ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On March 24 Iraq's Ministry of Oil (MOO) announced, via its website, its request for tenders (RFT) for technical assistance for three specific oil and gas fields, the Akkas Gas Field, Kirkuk Oil Field, and Rumaila Oil Field. (COMMENT: Thamir Ghadban on 3/24 informed Parks and G. Holcomb that the Council of Ministers had not yet approved MOO issuing RFTs as part of MOO's proposed TSA 2nd Bid Round. Akkas is one of the fields included in the proposed 2nd Bid Round. Later in a telecom with SCOP DG Falah Khawaja, Holcomb learned the Akkas RFT involves the Field's existing gas wells and is not related to MOO's proposed 2nd Bid Round for TSAs. END COMMENT.) END SUMMARY. ¶2. ( U) The Akkas RFT, issued by the Ministry's Oil Projects Co. (SCOP) (Project No. 2185 with a bid deadline of April 24, 2008 and non-refundable filing fee of $500),is for field development (excluding pipelines) to make available gas from the Field's existing wells for export to Syria. It has been estimated that Akkas, located in Anbar Province, contains between 2 and 7 Tcf of gas reserves. Ministry officials have estimated the Field could produce between 50 and 500 mmmscf of gas daily, depending on development investment. However, some former MOO officials question whether as much as 500 mmscf/d is achievable. ¶3. (U) The Ministry's Oil Exploration Co. (OEC) issued Tender Nos. 2008/04 and 2008/06 for 3D seismic studies covering, respectively, the Rumaila and Kirkuk Oil Fields. Both RFTs have a bid deadline of April 30, 2008 and Rumaila includes an (separately contracted & paid for) minefield clearing requirement. Bids must include a non-refundable USD 12,000 fee together with a USD1.5 million bid bond. CROCKER