CBJ - August 8 - The ministry of Iraq, the nation home to the world’s third largest oil reserves, has announced that 41 global majors have made it through to the next round of bidding, scheduled for January, for 12 exploration blocs.

These blocs may contain 10 billion barrels and 29 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to the country’s sources: A hefty add-on to its existing totals of 143 billion barrels of oil and 112.6 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Plenty of the names to make it through are predictable ones, such as British Petroleum (BP), Royal Dutch Shell, Mitsubishi Corporation and Itochu Corporation. There are also two Arab companies amongst the fold; Mubadala Oil & Gas, of the UAE, and Kuwait Energy, of Kuwait.

It is also reported that while many of the majors would prefer to team up and share production from these blocks, should they be successful, the country stipulates that deals will be based on service contracts which offer participating companies an agreed payment for ongoing work, not shares in the ground. It has however also been stated that these deals will not be the same as the 20-year term agreements previously penned.