The Guardian reports on the significance of China’s new oil deal with Iraq:
The deal could set a precedent for terms that fall far short of the lucrative contracts the oil majors had hoped for as they jostled for access to the world’s third largest oil reserves.
[…] “The biggest significance of this deal is that CNPC will benefit as the first international oil company to be developing one of the giant discovered oil fields in Iraq in the new era,” said Alex Munton, analyst at global consultancy Wood Mackenzie.
“They will be the first with people on the ground and the first to develop a working relationship with Iraq’s oil ministry.”
Now CNPC and China’s other state-supported oil firms are likely to face off with Western oil companies in a bid round for other long-term contracts to enhance giant fields already in production. Iraq aims to sign those deals in mid-2009.
Read also “Iraq and China Sign $3 Billion Oil Contract” from the Washington Post. Read more about the deal, via Google News.
