Petrel shares rise with news of Iraq oil tender

SHARES in Petrel Resources, the Irish exploration firm, have shot back up following reports that it may be back in the running for an oil field in Iraq.

The company’s shares halved in early December after it emerged the Dublin-based firm lost out on a field in Northern Iraq.

Last week, the interim Iraqi government officially awarded its first contract to a Turkish firm called Avrasya for €101 million for the Khurmala Dome, which Petrel was after.

But shares in Petrel have surged by 60% in the past week as the Iraq government has re-opened the tender process for the Hemrin field, also in the north of the country.

Petrel has also submitted a tender for the Suba-Luhais field, which could have an output of 180,000 barrels a day.

The Irish firm submitted tenders for the three projects, which are said to be worth €250 million.

Their small size and scope has failed to attract the interest of major international oil companies.

Iraq has yet to restore production capacity lost from bombing during the 1980-1988 war with Iran and later wars, as well as crushing economic sanctions.

Oil officials hope to double Iraq’s 2.6 million barrels per day output by the end of the decade.

The country holds the second-largest known reserves of oil.

Petrel shares were unchanged at 60p yesterday, but have gained 23p in the past week and 37p since the start of the year.

However, they are still trading off their all-time high of 133p.