Iraq Asks BP To Alter Rumaila Field Signature Bonus -Official

By Hassan Hafidh Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES BAGHDAD (Dow Jones)--The Iraqi oil ministry has asked BP PLC (BP) and its partner China National Petroleum Corp., or CNPC, to change the signature bonus for Rumaila oil field to unrecoverable but at a reduced sum from the proposed recoverable soft loan, a senior Iraqi oil official said Thursday. "We are still in discussions with them," Sabah Abdulkadhem al-Saaidi told Dow Jones Newswires. Iraq has set a recoverable five-year soft loan of $500 million for the super-giant Rumaila oil field in southern Iraq to be paid by BP and CNPC. Saaidi said the ministry asked them instead to pay an unrecoverable $100 million signature bonus. A BP executive based in Iraq refused to comment. -By Hassan Hafidh, Dow Jones Newswires; +962 799 831 831; hassan.hafidh@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 22, 2010 04:03 ET (08:03 GMT)