The Ministry of Oil said in a statement on Saturday that six firms were invited to submit technical and commercial bids for the project, given Iraq’s urgent need to secure electricity and operate power stations.
Besides the two shortlisted companies, a third bidder’s revised offer, below 500 million standard cubic feet per day, was rejected, while its proposal to operate two separate storage and regasification platforms was dismissed by the Iraqi Ports Company.
The ministry did not provide further details regarding the bidders.
According to the ministry, its order committee will issue the final order at its next meeting.
As part of the project, the ministry also noted that the South Gas Company and the Oil Projects Company completed two gas pipelines.
These include a 40-kilometre pipeline from Khor al-Zubair to Shatt al-Arab, and a 45-kilometre pipeline from Al-Mahmoudiyah, south of Baghdad, to the Bismayah power plant.
Recent media reports suggest that US FSRU player Excelerate Energy is in talks with Iraq to provide an FSRU and LNG supplies.
The Ministry of Oil said in a statement in May that it “welcomes and consistently seeks to collaborate with American companies in the development of oil and gas fields through direct relationships and contracts.”
Exclerate’s management did not mention Iraq during the company’s recent earnings call.
The company operates 11 FSRUs, including a chartered FSRU integrated with the Jamaican assets, one of the world’s largest fleets of such vessels, and these units are located worldwide.
In addition to these FSRUs, Excelerate also ordered one 174,000-cbm FSRU at South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2022.
It will pay about $332 million for the vessel, and the FSRU is scheduled for delivery in June 2026.
