Iraq-Eni Sign Zubair Oil Deal

Three other international oil consortiums are competing to develop that field after accepting Iraq's terms $1.9 per barrel that were offered in the bidding round.

One is led by Russia's Lukoil and ConocoPhilips, another by Exxon Mobil with Royal Dutch Shell and third is led by China's CNPC, al-Shahritsnai annoucned.

The Lukoil-led consortium's targeted production is 1.5 million barrels a day while the other consortium's targeted production is 2.1 million barrels a day. Lukoil consortium submitted an earlier bid of $6.49 per barrel and the Exxon Mobil-led consortium was asking for $4 per barrel.

The winner will be announced in the coming few days, al-Shahristani said.

Iraq is also planning a second bidding round on December 11-12.

Forty-five international oil companies are set to bid for 10 oil projects on offer.

Iraq's daily production ranges between 2.3 to 2.4 million barrels a day and exports nearly 2 million barrels a day.

The overall fall in oil prices since last year has forced the government to slash spending plans for this year from $79 billion to $58.6 billion. The oil sector represents about 65 percent of Iraq's gross domestic product and its revenues account for 95 percent of Iraq's earnings.

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