Iraq has asked international oil firms that won contracts to develop its vast oil reserves if they are interested in financing its huge crude export infrastructure projects.

The Oil Ministry is exploring options to finance its costly export infrastructure plans, including asking oil companies to either contribute funding or offer the projects under build, operate and transfer (BOT) contracts, Deputy Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi was quoted as saying in a report in our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News.

'The big (export) projects and pipelines need several billions, so we are studying the issue of financing, either to be through the BOT model, or that the oil companies take part in funding, or both,' he said.

The ministry has asked the companies if they were interested 'to participate in the study, design, implementation and financing process as a common project to be shared by relevant contracts,' according to a copy of a letter to oil firms in June.

The plan to transfer the crude oil received from the oilfields under the first and second bidding rounds last year consists of building pipelines towards the oil hub of Basra, to Turkey in the north and Syria in the west, the letter said.

'So far, there are four or five (oil) companies that have responded,' said Luaibi.

Participation of the companies in the crude export project would be similar to a multi-billion-dollar water injection scheme in southern oilfields, Luaibi said.

US oil major ExxonMobil is taking the lead among oil companies that won development contracts for southern oilfields to co-ordinate initial studies for the water injection project, which is expected to exceed $10 billion.

Companies would initially fund the project and Iraq will repay the cost from its oil revenue.

But Iraq, which forecasts a 2010 budget deficit of $19.6 billion, is short of funds and needs of billions of dollars to rebuild its battered infrastructure.