Iraq's oil minister says Russia's Lukoil will have an advantage in gaining new oil contracts

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Iraq: Oil Producers Must Compete to Win Iraqi Contracts

VOA News
09 August 2007

Iraq's oil minister says international companies that want to develop Iraqi oil fields will have to compete for bids in the open market.

Husayn al-Shahristani says no company will get special treatment from the government in Baghdad. He was speaking Thursday in Moscow after talks with executives from Russian oil giant, Lukoil.

Lukoil won a contract from Saddam Hussein's government to drill at West Qurna, one of Iraq's largest oil fields. Saddam's authorities later scrapped the deal, but Lukoil is hoping to revive it with Iraq's current elected leaders.

Shahristani says all qualified oil producers will be invited to bid for stakes in Iraq's oil fields. He says the bidding process could begin next month if parliament passes a key oil law by then.

Shahristani says Russia's Lukoil will have an advantage in gaining new contracts because of its previous work in Iraq.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-08-09-voa70.cfm

[Fresh_Start]

1. thats rich, Russia will get oil contracts

instead of USA

[dipsydoodle]

2. Russia has also got the benefit

of being in possession of the only geological surveys done in Afghanistan. They stole them and refuse to give them back..........lol.

[bigtree]

3. they're also looking to get a pretty lucrative oil field

18 bln barrels of oil discovered at Iraq’s West Qurna

10 Aug 2007

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani reported Thursday that reserves at the West Qurna-2 oil field are now 24 billion barrels, four times as much as were expected, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The oil field is in dispute between Russian oil giant LUKoil and the Iraqi government. “The more we are drilling, the more reserves we are discovering,” Minister al-Shahristani told reporters in Moscow on Thursday.

LUKoil signed a deal to develop the field in 1997 but never started large-scale production. The Saddam Hussein government terminated the contract in 2003. Iraq’s incumbent government is also reluctant to return the rights to the Russian company. LUKoil top executives meet Iraqi authorities on Thursday. Baghdad earlier pledged to give the Russian firm a priority in developing the field, but refrained from detailed promises. Husayn al-Shahristani told reporters that LUKoil’s previous experience in Iraq gives it a competitive edge in gaining new contracts there, but the firm will get no special treatment from the government.

As of late 2006, Iraq had the world’s third-largest oil reserves of 115 billion barrels after Saudi Arabia and Iran, according to BP. Two million barrels is being extracted in Iraq daily with plans to double production by 2010 and triple it to 6 million by 2012. (kommersant.com)

http://www.bbj.hu/main/news_29854_18+bln+barrels+of+oil+discovered+at+iraq%25E2%2580%2599s+west+qurna.html

[Sapere aude]

4. Hold on what about the NeoCon/Cheney Oil and Drilling Co?

Hell, they didn't start this war just to give the oil to Russia!