Iraq says bombs will not stop oil auction
By Ahmed Rasheed and Simon Webb
9:11am EST
-Oil ministry says oil bid round to proceed despite bombs -Big energy firms say no change yet to travel plans
BAGHDAD/DUBAI, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The Iraqi Oil Ministry said it will proceed with an oil auction this week and executives from big energy firms said they planned to attend, despite bombings that killed at least 112 people in Baghdad on Tuesday.
The bombs were a reminder of the security threat big energy firms face as they prepare to send staff into Iraq to work on some of the world's largest oilfields.
"We are moving forward with the auction on Friday and Saturday as scheduled," Sabah Abdul Kadhim, an official at the ministry's petroleum licensing office, told Reuters.
The bombs were some distance away from Iraq's Oil Ministry, where the oil auction would take place. But they rattled the windows at the ministry, where workers were adding the finishing touches to preparations to receive many of the oil world's most powerful deal makers on Dec. 11-12.
Executives from some of the world's largest energy companies contacted by Reuters said that they had made no change to their plans to fly into the Iraqi capital to compete for multibillion dollar deals to develop the world's third largest oil reserves.
They have long had to weigh security and other risks to work in Iraq against the potentially huge gains on offer in the oil sector.
"We didn't really expect Iraq to suddenly become peaceful," said one executive at a western oil company planning to travel to Iraq on Thursday. The companies were monitoring the threat and evaluating the intelligence being provided to them by security teams on the ground, executives said. They would make the final call just before staff boarded flights to the Iraqi capital.
Iraq may beef up what was already expected to be tight security at the Oil Ministry, one executive said. "So far, we don't think it will change our plans," he said. "But it is a concern and Iraqi authorities will have to take this very seriously. It could mean even tighter security on the day and may make the logistics for the auction very difficult."
(Additional reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley in Baghdad; editing by Michael Christie)
Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.
By Ahmed Rasheed and Simon Webb
9:11am EST
-Oil ministry says oil bid round to proceed despite bombs -Big energy firms say no change yet to travel plans
BAGHDAD/DUBAI, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The Iraqi Oil Ministry said it will proceed with an oil auction this week and executives from big energy firms said they planned to attend, despite bombings that killed at least 112 people in Baghdad on Tuesday.
The bombs were a reminder of the security threat big energy firms face as they prepare to send staff into Iraq to work on some of the world's largest oilfields.
"We are moving forward with the auction on Friday and Saturday as scheduled," Sabah Abdul Kadhim, an official at the ministry's petroleum licensing office, told Reuters.
The bombs were some distance away from Iraq's Oil Ministry, where the oil auction would take place. But they rattled the windows at the ministry, where workers were adding the finishing touches to preparations to receive many of the oil world's most powerful deal makers on Dec. 11-12.
Executives from some of the world's largest energy companies contacted by Reuters said that they had made no change to their plans to fly into the Iraqi capital to compete for multibillion dollar deals to develop the world's third largest oil reserves.
They have long had to weigh security and other risks to work in Iraq against the potentially huge gains on offer in the oil sector.
"We didn't really expect Iraq to suddenly become peaceful," said one executive at a western oil company planning to travel to Iraq on Thursday. The companies were monitoring the threat and evaluating the intelligence being provided to them by security teams on the ground, executives said. They would make the final call just before staff boarded flights to the Iraqi capital.
Iraq may beef up what was already expected to be tight security at the Oil Ministry, one executive said. "So far, we don't think it will change our plans," he said. "But it is a concern and Iraqi authorities will have to take this very seriously. It could mean even tighter security on the day and may make the logistics for the auction very difficult."
(Additional reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley in Baghdad; editing by Michael Christie)
Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.