Iraq’s Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani said today that 10 undeveloped or underdeveloped gas and oil fields will be offered in the country’s second licensing round, which kicks off.

Shahristani said the fields include Majnoon and West Qurna Phase 2 in southern Iraq. Both are sizable fields that are currently producing far below their potential.

The Associated Press quote Shahristani as making the announcement on state-run Iraqiyah TV last night.

Iraq recently opened its first round of bidding since the US-led invasion of Iraq for contracts to develop six major oilfields and two gas fields. Those contracts are expected to be signed in the middle of next year.

Iraq sits on more than 115 billion barrels of oil, but decades of war, United Nations sanctions, violence and sabotage have battered its oil industry.

(Upstream Online)