BAGHDAD ø Iraq has awarded oil contracts to companies from Europe
and the United States.
The Iraqi Oil Ministry awarded these companies the right to purchase six
million barrels of oil from the Kirkuk fields. The leading award was relayed
to ExxonMobil of the United States, which won the right to purchase three
million barrels of oil.
ExxonMobil, which won a similar award in March, was followed by Spain's
Repsol, Greece's Hellenic Petroleum and Turkey's
Tupras. They were awarded one million barels each.
The ministry said the oil will be loaded at the Turkish terminal of
Ceyhan, along the Mediterranean Sea. The oil will be transported via the
Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, operations of which were renewed in March after a
seven-month recess.
