Iraq's government on Wednesday said except a deal with BP-led group for development of its Rumaila oilfield, it has rejected all other bids from foreign companies as the firms wanted fees 'that were too high.'

The Iraq government's reaction comes a day after being widely snubbed by energy companies unhappy about the terms on Tuesday.

'The offers from the foreign companies were rejected by the government,' government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh was quoted as saying in media reports.

The oil ministry officials made it clear that the oil majors will have to match the prices offered by the ministry of oil if they want to work on these oil fields. In case they don't agree, the officials pledged that some sites will instead be solely exploited by state-owned firms.The cabinet approved the bid submitted by the consortium led by British Petroleum to develop Rumaila. It will boost output from current levels of 950,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 2.85 million bpd in return for $2 for each additional barrel produced,' Dabbagh added.

But two gas fields, and possibly one of the oil fields that was not taken up by foreign bidders, would instead be solely managed by state-owned companies, he stated.

'The two gas fields of Mansuriya and Akkas, and maybe the oil field of Kirkuk, will be exploited by national Iraqi companies,' Dabbagh added.

In contrast, China's CNOOC and Sinopec had wanted $25.40 per barrel extracted from the Maysan field but the government offered them only $2.30.

US energy giant ConocoPhillips asked for $26.70 per barrel to work in the Bai Hassan oil field but the government offered $4.

A consortium featuring Sinopec, Italy's Eni Medio Orient SpA, America's Occidental Petroleum and South Korea's Korea Gas Corp (Kogas) withdrew from bidding for the Zubair oil field. It asked for $4.80 per barrel but the oil ministry offered only $2 per barrel, the report added.