Iraq has pushed back this month’s auction to award the rights to develop 11 oil and gas fields to international companies with ten days, after it amended some of the contract terms, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the process. Originally, the oil auction was scheduled to be held on April 15, but one of Bloomberg’s sources said that the Iraqi Oil Ministry had rescheduled the auction for April 25 after introducing some changes, to give companies more time to study the new terms of the contract. Under the original schedule, most—if not all—interested bidders would have had just two days to evaluate the new terms before the auction, Luay Al Khatteeb, executive director of Baghdad-based research organization Iraq Energy Institute, told Bloomberg. As many as 16 companies—including Big Oil’s Exxon, Chevron, and Total—have expressed interest in taking part in Iraq’s bidding round. The other interested bidders […]