Iraqi Oil Minister: the balance of the global market has prevented a third licensing round

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahristani said on Thursday to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported that Iraq desires to maintain the balance of the global market and stabilize oil prices instantly without going through a third licensing round to develop Iraqi oil fields. The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers quoted Al-Shahristani said in a statement that "Iraq has taken into account to maintain the balance of the global market to ensure the marketing outlets and fair prices for oil," noting that the pattern of the contracts signed with international companies in particular is ideal duration of such contracts are standard, as it does not exceed six years. Shahristani said that the increase which will be awarded the first oil licensing rounds and the second will come in parallel with the global increase of energy demand and depletion of reserves for some of the many countries in the world, noting that fields producing countries reached old age now as he put it. Iraq is expected to increase its production ceiling to about 12 million barrels of oil during the next six years after the signing of a number of partnership contracts with international oil companies. The Iraqi Oil Ministry recently signed a final contract with a consortium of Norwegian Statoil and Russian Lukoil to develop large oil field in southern Iraq. The consortium gets a fee of $ 1.15 for every barrel of oil production and the level of target for production of 1.8 million barrels per day, according to the contract. The West Qurna field in Basra province is one of the largest Iraqi oil fields and includes a stockpile estimated at 13 billion barrels. The contract to develop West Qurna is the latest in the framework of several agreements with international energy companies to raise Iraq's oil production in six years to about 12 million barrels per day, according to estimates by the Iraqi Oil Ministry.m.e