Iraq Signs Deal To Develop Oil Field - With China

SHANGHAI, China — China and Iraq have signed a $3 billion deal revising a prewar agreement for China's biggest oil company to help develop the Ahdab oil field, an official at the Iraq's Oil Ministry said Thursday.

The deal, restoring a project canceled after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, was signed late Wednesday by Chinese officials and Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani.

"The initial agreement has been signed, and we are waiting to see the approval of both governments," said Sarhad Fatah, a spokesman at the Iraqi Embassy in Beijing.

Fatah would not disclose the value of the deal, but an official at the Oil Ministry in Baghdad confirmed it would be worth $3 billion. He requested anonomity because the agreement hasn't been approved by the cabinet yet.

Major oil companies have been reluctant to commit to deals in Iraq because Baghdad has yet to enact a law to govern the oil industry.

The government of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein signed a deal in 1997 with China's oil company, government-owned China National Petroleum Corp. It was to take effect once U.N. sanctions on Iraq's oil industry were lifted.

That contract, worth $1.2 billion at the time, gave a subsidiary of the Chinese company concessions to develop the field on a production-sharing basis for 22 years.

A CNPC spokesman, Liu Weijiang, said Thursday that he could not provide any information on the new agreement.

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If it is approved, the agreement would be the first Saddam-era oil deal to be honored by the new Iraqi government.

A number of companies say they signed deals with Saddam's regime and demand that those be honored, or the countries involved be given priority on new agreements.

But the Iraqi statement said that some technical services contracts with other big petroleum companies might be postponed.

Iraq's Oil Ministry has consistently denied giving any advantage to companies with which Saddam signed deals, instead insisting that oil and gas fields and exploration blocks will be offered up for bids.

Iraq sits on more than 115 billion barrels of oil, but decades of wars, U.N. sanctions, violence and sabotage have battered its oil industry.

The Ahdab field is located in Shiite-dominated Wasit province, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad. It has been the scene of sporadic attacks since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

As security improves, Iraq is trying to bring in foreign companies to help increase crude output from the current 2.5 million barrels a day to 3 million barrels a day by the end of 2008, and 4.5 million barrels a day by the end of 2013.

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Associated Press researcher Bonnie Cao in Beijing and Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Comments

[kimo57]

Well looks like we got screwed again
We did all the hard work for China
and they walk right in and get a Major Oil deal

[mtnrdr]

This is not good.

[lvogt]

That's what we're fighting for.

[Binx101]

This is the elephant in the room that the mediocre media hasn't figured out.

We attacked Iraq so that Russia couldn't cut major deals with the Iraqis just as they were beginning to cozy up. While the American comedy administration were explaining it differently, they were shilling for the Oil Companies most closely tied to the Bush crime family and Cheney pals (that means all the others), while CNPC was cutting deals all along with oil ministry.

There was no intelligence break-down.

Bush actually lost the war that he started in order to control Iraqi oil by not getting control of Iraqi oil. History may have viewed him, as he was deluded into thinking, that this was a necessary war in order that the US wouldn't be cut off from oil as we did to Japan in order to draw them into WWII. However, even in the Right Wing Ivory Towers of War Games - they "misunderestimated" their own lack of leadership so gravely it's as though the Chinese Nation Petroleum Corporation sneaked behind the Bush administration on all fours - while Maliki and the Iraq Oil ministry easily toppled them.

You won't hear these observations from the likes of William Krystoll and his legion of propagandists while they start hurling feces like deranged monkeys at a zoo (Read the AP News and FOX News)

Binx101
The Almost Daily Binx
http://binx101.wordpress.com

[danke fuer nichts]

At least you Americans now know for what your sons and daughters died.

[thirteen13]

Don't ever forget that Communist China owns the mortgage that is the US economy of the future.
All thanks to the Republicans and their supporters.
Borrow and spend, borrow and spend, that is the Republican mindset. And they accuse the Democrats of tax and spend. For those of you future tax payers, paying off of this debt will require a reduced standard of living with higher taxes.

[FrictionSoul]

Thank you for those facts. Wish more people knew how much the federal government has borrowed, given to corporations such as Halliburton, and stuck us with the bill. Meanwhile as those Christians over at the Palin for VP website believe in free market. They refuse to wake up to the fact that they and their faith were sold off to China, Saudi Arabia and Japan a long time ago.

They haven't met a fact that they couldn't deny.

[evilzed]

Dont be silly, millions of Americans still think it was because Sadaam was tied to 911, WMD to nuke America and Operation Iraqi Freedom. How dare you insinuate that US leaders lied and sent their young ones to die for oil and big arms profits.

[jwws007]

how much are we going to have to pay blackwater to secure the oilfields for the chinese

[thirteen13]

Communist China will lend us all the money we need to protect their oil fields.

[VivaZapata]

Feel the love yet, Dick Cheney?

[MadeinAmericaProud]

The American people who's children have been forced to volunteer in military service due to no jobs, should feel betrayed. Those who lives were taken are HEROES, but not for an honest reason.

The soldiers who return home not whole, to a president McCain who voted so many time against veteran claiming he didn't agree with the other bills attached to the veteran bill is the most piss poor excuse we the people can accept.

McCain wants one bill at a time. His way, we should have never invested any money into the internet or broadband. Stick with paper/pencil or typewriters.

if we let him in office to veto every bill with multi- bills/or consolidated bills request to the president. the do nothing congress name with truly destroy the democrats. The uneducated blame congress,
missing it is the republican blocking very important vote, go before the cameras saying the demo are in charge. I am sick and tried of stupid crap like that being accept by the vast John Q Public.
providing the pollsters a low grade on congress. Don't they know how many votes each house (senate or house of reps) needs before it goes to the president?

We don't need an education if the pollsters only find, talk to the dumb people polls.

"SILLY SEASON" for 8yrs

communist china has over a billion people. More males than females, One thousand men to one female. (you all must watch PBS, Bill Moyers journal show more often)

[chinationreport]

Bush has not figured out 'Who is Hu' while China is making deals everywhere:
http://www.chinationreport.com/BushRiceWhoIsHu.html

Some breathtaking pictures with new views from China's tallest building in Shanghai:
http://www.chinationreport.com/TallestBuilding.html

[Harod]

This is good news for the Iraq's they need to get the best del they can get..

[HatingTheGame]

Mission Accomplished!

Uh... wait... that's not right...

[SisterAnn]

In Kuchinich's speech at the convention, they took out a line. That line, addressing Republicans, read: "They"re asking for another four years " in a just world, they"d get 10 to 20."

[chinationreport]

Let facts speak: http://internationaltrade.suite101.com/article.cfm/iraqs_trade_buddies
Iraqi oil exports in 2006:
USA: $16 billion (49.7% of total oil export)
Italy: $3.4 billion n(10.7%)
Spain: $2 billion
Canada: $1.8 billion
Above account for over 70%
Before the Iraq war, China was negotiating a contract with Iraq and it had to go force majeure.
Don't get so excited by this. $3billion sounds a lot to us ordinary people. For a deal at a country level, it is peanuts! It only offers the media a golden opportunity to fool people and rage anger against China.
http://www.chinationreport.com/QuestionMediaCoverage.html

[gakabani]

The signature below the contract with China says:

GW Bush,
New dictator of Iraq and owner of oil reserves.

I am not that stupid, Bush now became the new owner of Iraq, this was his motive for the invasion, OIL.
We Americans are so STUPID!

[OilWarsDotCom]

http://www.oilwars.com/Drilling.html

[nanotubz]

You're mixing sales and development. The later is not immediate in oil production/exports, but could lead to future exports which exceed the present numbers you cite. We'll know in ten years.

It just interesting that this Chinese deal follows so closely the one they just completed with Iran.

[chinationreport]

Sorry that my message was not clear and indeed confusing. This does not mean I am equating the two sets of numbers. I am merely pointing out a fact that every country will have eyes on Iraq and its oil now and years to come. You are correct that the full story will only be known until years later. The fact is that both America and China need oil. While USA actually has some oil reserve, China does not. So China has to choose among: Iraq, Iran, Saudi, Russia, Sudan, Venezuela, Nigeria... Which deal would not get China into political trouble? Hard to tell. China's policy has been not mixing politics with economics. It has been consistently after one thing: Oil and development.
Some pictures with views from China's tallest buildings: http://www.chinationreport.com/TallestBuilding.html

[KillTheMessenger]

Agreed. Except that oil from Iraq is about as expensive as oil from anywhere else and who gets it is really just a matter of what price they are willing to pay. So if China is willing to pay more, they will buy more oil from Iraq in the future and there is nothing we can do about it.

[Birdman]

OOOps so much for GW's war for Oil. If it wasn't so sad about all that have died as a result I would be laughing.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

Well, since the US thugs just pocket the money they steal from the treasury and get nothing done, I guess I'd turnto China too.... at least something will get done.

[sparkey]

And yet, once again,Cheney's puppet fails. His wife and children must be so pleased.

[AzRealProgressive]

Sure sparkey. Whatever you say.