Iraq Postpones Oil, Gas Bidding to April

Iraq has decided to delay its fourth oil-and-gas bidding round, to April 11-12, when it will auction 12 oil and gas exploration blocks to international companies, media reports said Wednesday.

The bidding was earlier scheduled to take place on March 7-8.

Government officials said 37 international firms have paid participation fees and bought data packages for the 12 blocks.

Some 46 energy companies have qualified to participate in the bidding round, which is expected to add 29 trillion cubic feet of gas and 10 billion barrels of oil.