Iraq to begin first post-Saddam oil bid round in London

Iraqi oil officials are set to meet in London tomorrow with oil-company representatives for the country’s first round of bidding for new contracts since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
   
Last April, Iraq chose 35 oil companies out of the 120 that applied to participate in the bidding round to develop six major oil fields and two gas fields. Topping the list are the world’s oil giants: Royal Dutch Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron and Total.
   
Iraq sits on more than 115 billion barrels of oil, but decades of wars, U.N. sanctions, violence and sabotage have battered its oil industry.
   
As security improves, Iraq is trying to bring in foreign companies to help increase crude output from the current 2.5 million barrels a day to 4.5 million barrels a day by the end of 2013.