Thursday, August 09, 2007
Shahristani in Moscow for talks with oil companies
Oil
(The Moscow Times) - Iraq's oil minister arrived in Moscow late Wednesday for talks with Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko and senior oil executives and said he would offer new terms for Russian companies seeking to work in the war-torn country. Officials from a consortium of three Russian companies -- LUKoil, Zarubezhneft and Mashinoimport -- are expected to meet on Thursday with Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani in a bid to regain access to the country's oil fields.
In particular, the companies will be hoping to revive a $4 billion deal to develop the 600,000 barrel-per-day West Qurna field, which was scrapped by dictator Saddam Hussein shortly before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. "Iraq will cooperate with those companies that will propose the best conditions for Iraq, regardless of what countries these companies come from," Shahristani said on his arrival in Moscow, RIA-Novosti reported. Shahristani said no country would get preferential treatment in the competition for Iraqi oil assets. "LUKoil will be competing with other firms on equal terms in accordance with the new oil laws." If LUKoil proposes projects that are competitive enough, it will get the contracts, Shahristani said. LUKoil will likely be hoping to make use of its 20 percent U.S. shareholder, ConocoPhillips, to ease its way back into the country. LUKoil has offered Conoco a 17.5 percent stake in the West Qurna project.
In May, the Iraqi government said it was not prepared to accept a Russian offer to forgive $10 billion in Hussein-era debt in exchange for giving Russian companies access to another major oil field, in Rumaila, Reuters reported. The visit comes as the Iraqi government readies a new law governing foreign investment in the country's oil industry, which has struggled to recover from underinvestment under Hussein and disruption by terrorist attacks under the U.S.-led occupation.
Semakov said LUKoil would create some 2,000 jobs for Iraqis in one field at West Qurna alone. The company has invested "tens of millions of dollars" in the project but would plow in much more in the future, he said.As the invasion of Iraq began, the Russian firms had to abandon their projects and evacuate staff.
Labels: ConocoPhillips, Hussain al-Shahristani, LUKoil, Mashinoimport, Rumaila field, Russia, Viktor Khristenko, West Qurna, Zarubezhneft
