Reliance Iraq oil signing bonus $15M

IRBIL, Iraq, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Reliance Industries paid a signing bonus of between $15.5 million and $17.5 million for oil contracts to explore and develop two Iraqi Kurdish blocks.

The amounts, reported by The Times of India, represent the first time concrete numbers have been made public.

Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government has announced another round of production-sharing contracts, deals Baghdad calls illegal, claiming the KRG’s unilateral moves are unconstitutional.

Reliance was among the firms announced Tuesday. It signed deals for two exploration blocks in the KRG area, which has little of Iraq’s proven reserves, but experts believe the geological structures will turn up large deposits when fully explored.

The contracts themselves have not been made public, but KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami said they fall in line with the model production-sharing contract it has made public via its Web site.

According to the “Kurdistan Region Risk/Reward Commercial Guidelines for Exploration,” signing bonuses are “required for all Blocks, Bidders to propose their best amounts.”

When asked in October, following the announcement of two additional production-sharing contracts, Hawrami told United Press International the amounts of the signing bonuses, paid to the KRG, are “variable, meaningful and important enough to ensure that the contractors are serious to deliver their responsibilities under the contract.”

When asked to clarify, Hawrami said it was “confidential ... but designed to get ongoing commitments of the contractors.”