BAGHDAD: Iraq awarded three gas fields at an international auction on Wednesday as it vies to become a major world player in a policy the oil minister said is key to boosting the war-ravaged economy. The largest of the three fields up for sale went to a Kazakh and Korean consortium; the next biggest to a Turkish-Kuwaiti-Korean bid; and the smallest to a Turkish-Kuwaiti joint venture. The Korean Gas Corporation of South Korea and Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGaz secured a 50-50 joint venture to develop the largest field - Akkaz, in Anbar province west of Baghdad - which has reserves of about 158 billion cubic meters (5.6 trillion cubic feet). The winning bid offered $5.50 per oil-barrel-equivalent and a plateau production of 11.4 million cubic meters (400 million cubic feet) per day over 13 years. The only other bidders for Akkaz were France's Total and Turkey's TPAO, which placed a 50-50 joint venture bid. A consortium made up of Turkey's TPAO, Kuwait Energy and Korean Gas Corporation won the contract to develop the Mansuriyah field in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, which has estimated reserves of 127 billion cubic meters (4.5 trillion cubic feet). They offered $7 per oil-barrel-equivalent and a production plateau of 9.1 million cubic meters (320 million cubic feet) per day over 13 years. TPAO has a 50 percent stake in the joint venture, Kuwait Energy 30 percent and Korean Gas Corporation 20 percent. They were the only bidders. Siba, the smallest field up for auction with reserves of 34 billion cubic meters (1.5 trillion cubic feet) according to Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahristani, went to a joint venture between Kuwait Energy and Turkey's TPAO. The two firms, which have a 60-40 split in the joint venture, offered a nine-year contract at $7.5 per oil-barrel-equivalent and a per-day production plateau of 2.9 million cubic meters (100 million cubic feet). KazMunaiGaz was the only other bidder for Siba, which lies in southern Basra province. The oil minister said that development of the three fields, which have combined estimated reserves of nearly 317 billion cubic meters (11 trillion cubic feet), would help jumpstart the economy by creating jobs and providing much
