Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Advisers Commission Thamir Ghadhban countered suggestions that the terms of oil production deals with foreign companies were too favourable to the Iraqi government at the MEED Iraq Energy Projects Conference 2013 in Dubai on 25 March.

He said Iraq wanted to maintain engagement with international oil companies (IOCs).

“In 2009, Iraq created a process that was very transparent,” said Sharon Poulson, Shell’s finance director for Iraq. “This encouraged competition and led to very good prices for the government. These deals are some of the most profitable for the government.”

“There was no doubt the terms were tough because of competition among IOCs,” Ghadhban said. “But look what we offered; all the proven discovered fields, near the infrastructure and so on.”

He said that the terms of future deals could be relaxed and that Iraq did not want to lose the IOCs.