French oil major Total is “cautious” about acquiring more blocks in Iraq, according to the company’s senior vice-president of exploration Kevin McLachlan.

“We are cautious about Iraq at the moment,” he told MEED on the sidelines of the AIPN conference in London on 24 April.

“It is not one of our focus areas.”

His comments come ahead of a licensing round due to take place in Iraq on Thursday.

Iraq is offering 11 new blocks for exploration in border areas with Iran and Kuwait, and in offshore Gulf waters.

A total of 14 companies have expressed interest in the bidding round, the oil ministry said on 14 April.

Total has been present in Iraq for more than a century and has a 22.5 per cent interest in the consortium that operates the Halfaya oil field in Missan province in southern Iraq.

In October last year, Iraq’s Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said that Total was one of the companies interested in developing the Majnoon oil field.