Iraq News, CALGARY, Alberta - Iraq's oil ministry has called for new bids to develop an oil field in the war-torn country, blindsiding the Canadian company that appeared to have won the contract, a top executive with the firm said on Friday.
OGI Group, a privately held exploration, development and oil field service company, had been successful in its tender to develop the Himrin field, and was awaiting final approval when it was told of the new bidding round on Thursday, the executive said.
"We won it, but it seems the ministry themselves, they yielded to certain pressures, unknown pressures, so they decided to ask the bidders to resubmit their bids," the Calgary-based OGI official told Reuters.
"It's totally against any international and Iraqi procedures for bidding processes."
If approved by the government, the agreement, along with another deal to develop the Khurmala Dome field, would have been Iraq's first oil deals with foreign companies in the postwar era.
The oil ministry's head of projects in Baghdad was not available for comment.
Officials have said Turkey's Everasia won the Khurmala Dome contract. It was not immediately known if that tender would also be reopened.
Several international players were in the running to develop the projects, which Iraqi officials hope will help the country restore production capacity that was lost due to bombing in the 1980-1988 war with Iran and subsequent conflicts.
