Gazprom Neft not to bid at next Iraq tender
MOSCOW. April 6 (Interfax) - Gazprom Neft has decided against bidding in the next tender for rights to oil and gas fields in Iraq.
"They are putting up sections for exploration. We've decided not to bid at the exploration tender because our portfolio of exploration assets is full. We need upstream projects," the company's chief, Alexander Dyukov, told reporters.
Nor will Gazprom Neft be bidding at auctions for fields in Croatia, Dyukov said. "They have natural gas, we've decided it wouldn't be advisable to bid at that tender," he said.
Dyukov said Gazprom Neft planned to start trading oil in Iraq in May, buying and selling up to 2.5 million tonnes of oil there per year and making money on the trading margin there.
Gazprom Neft is operator for the Badra project in Iraq.
Iraq is offering 12 exploration properties, seven of them potential gas fields and five of them oil, in its fourth licensing round. Russian companies Bashneft , TNK-BP , Rosneft , Gazprom and Lukoil have passed prequalification, although Lukoil has also said it does not intend to bid.
