Turkey forms 3 consortiums for Iraq oil tenders

* Turkey eyeing all big oilfield deals

* Iraq restricts bidding to only large oil firms

By Orhan Coskun

ANKARA, May 15 (Reuters) - Turkey has formed three consortiums with an eye to bid for oil exploration rights for nearly all big oilfields in Iraq at the end of June, the head of Turkey's state-owned oil firm TPAO said on Friday.

TPAO General Manager Mehmet Uysal also said TPAO would plan on bidding in Iraq oil tenders alone if the possibility were given to small companies in the tender process.

Oil-revenue dependent Iraq has given oil companies a chance to bid for the rights to explore some of its larger oilfields, but currently only large oil firms can participate in the exploration tenders due at the end of June.

Uysal did not say what companies they would be working with in consortium.

"We've formed three consortia for exploration tenders in Iraq. Talks are continuing with two others. We are working on bids for nearly all the large oilfields at the end of June," Uysal said in an interview with Reuters.

He also said that net energy importer Turkey had ended its farming out period for exploration rights in the Black Sea, but that more partnerships could be formed for exploration in the region if a very attractive offer came.

Uysal said on Thursday talks with Chevron had stalled after failure to agree on several issues in the deal.

Exxon and Petrobras are continuing work on exploration in the Black Sea.

He also said production in the Black Sea would start in 2017-2018 after a three-year drilling period, later than an earlier estimate of 2015-2016.

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Energy firms baulk at Iraqi oil licensing terms

Iraq's Oil Ministry reached agreement on just one deal with energy majors in its first oil licensing round, as companies baulked at Baghdad's tough terms and conditions.

A consortium led by the UK's BP won a deal to develop the Rumaila oil field in the south but only after a group led by the US' ExxonMobil Corporation had earlier rejected the government's proposed fee.

BP with its consortium partner, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), had to drop its remuneration fee to $2 a barrel of oil from its original bid of $3.99 a barrel in order to secure the deal.

While the ministry received bids for four other fields, it failed to secure deals after international oil companies rejected its tight terms.

For the Bai Hassan oil field in the north, a group led by the US' ConocoPhillips bid a remuneration fee of $26.70 a barrel compared with the ministry's maximum of $4 a barrel.

China's two state-run companies Sinochem Petroleum and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) declined to agree to the ministry's fee of $2.30 a barrel for the Missan oil field in the south after they bid $21.40 a barrel.

The UK/Dutch Shell Group led a consortium which submitted the sole bid for the Kirkuk oil field in the north but a deal is not thought to have been concluded by the close of proceedings in Baghdad on 30 June.

Four bids were received for the Zubair oil field in the south but it was again unclear if a deal had been made before the deadline imposed by the ministry.

No bids were received for the eastern Mansouria gas field while one bid was received by the US' Edison International for the western Akkas gas field but a deal was not thought to have been made.

Five bids were tabled by different consortiums for the West Qurna oil field in the south.

The oil licences cover 60 per cent of Iraq's reserves.

The Iraqi government is relying on the licences to produce oil at the six fields to enable it to meet its long-term goal of boosting the state's oil production to 6 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2013, from its current level of 2.4 million b/d (MEED 26:6:09).

• Author: Perry Williams. Senior Energy Writer, London.

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