In a statement the Director General of the State Company for Oil Projects Ahmed al-Shamma said, “International companies were approached by the oil ministry’s reservoir department to do engineering studies. The contracts [will] be the first to be undertaken on the country’s main oil producing fields since the 1980s. These are very old fields [and] we’re checking on present production [as] we want to optimise production.”

“Fix-up work [will] continue for an estimated two years. Companies have until July 29 to submit tenders for equipment and materials [and] the ministry is analysing company offers and should make a decision in late September-early October,” added Ahmed.