A consortium led by Russia’s Gazprom Neft has invited companies to submit bids to drill six production wells at the Badra oil field in southern Iraq.

Firms have been asked to submit proposals by 26 September for the tender, which was floated on 10 August.

The contract includes services for integrated project management (IPM), drilling rigs, engineering, drilling fluids, cementing, logging and mud logging, coring, completion, and other required services in order to deliver six production wells.

Gazprom Neft has asked for a bid bond of $10m, indicating that the deal will have a significantly large value.

The Russian group leads the Gazprom Neft Badra consortium with a 30 per cent stake in the development of the Badra field, which is located along Iraq’s eastern border with Iran. Its partners are South Korea’s Kogas (22 per cent), Malaysia-based Petronas (15 per cent), Turkey’s TPAO (7.5 per cent) and state-owned Midlands Oil Company.

The consortium recently started producing oil at the Badra field four years after signing a development contract with the Baghdad government.