BAGHDAD — Iraq’s oil minister began counting the money Saturday even before the first wells were drilled, dubbing the country’s second postwar oil auction a triumph even as international oil companies largely snubbed the most violent regions in the Middle East’s last major oil bonanza.
The two days of bidding produced deals on seven of the 15 fields on offer. Of those, four were in the stable southern Shiite heartland while two in the north went to the only company that expressed interest: Angola’s Sonogal. The last was in central Iraq, in a province where violence is low.
None of the U.S. supermajors such as Exxon Mobil Corp. or Chevron submitted bids.
“It is a big victory for Iraq,” Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani told reporters after the final field was sold. “It is a big achievement for Iraq to win such contracts at the current prices.”
He estimated the two bidding rounds could eventually bring in $200 billion a year — more than three times Iraq’s annual budget, which is 90 percent built on oil revenue.
