Iraq invites Russia's Gazprom to develop Nassiriya oilfield in south

The Iraqi Cabinet has agreed to invite Russia's Gazprom to develop the Nassiriya oilfield as a single contract.

While described in a statement from the Prime Minister's office as an "integrated development project", to be offered as a "single bid", it is not immediately clear if this is the originally proposed Nassiriya Integrated Project, which had reportedly been dropped following years of consideration. This would have included a major refinery, according to Iraq Business News.

The statement said: "This decision exempts it from the justifications outlined in Article (3/Sixth) of the Government Contracts Implementation Instructions (No. 2 of 2014) and the accompanying standard documents."

"The Ministry of Oil will bear the responsibility for the accuracy, validity, and integrity of the contractual procedures," it added.