Iraq to meet foreign oil companies after licence debacle

Iraq’s oil ministry will confer with foreign oil companies next month as it seeks to speed up its second bidding round for oil and gas licences.

“We are planning a roadshow meeting in Istanbul next month,” said Abdul-Mahdi al Ameedi, the deputy director general of the ministry’s petroleum contracts and ­licensing directorate.

“We are hoping to expedite the process so that we can actually sign the contracts by the end of the year.”