China invests heavily in oil fields during rights sale
Printable
EmailIraq has inked a preliminary deal with a consortium led by China's National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to develop a promising oil field.
The deal is part of the occupied country's effort to boost its lagging oil production and increase reconstruction revenue.
CNPC and consortium partners Malaysia's Petronas and France's Total won the rights to develop the 4.1 billion barrel Halfaya field in southern Iraq.
The agreement is one of seven struck during only the second round of postwar bidding which offered 15 of the country's most lucrative oil fields for development.
The consortium plans to raise production from the current 3,100 barrels per day to 535,000 barrels per day over 13 years, Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said.
Under the deal, the consortium will be paid $1.40 (88p) per barrel produced.
The 20-year deal must still be approved by Iraq's cabinet.
The message isn't changed
The report from Human Rights Watch on abuses carried out by some of the biggest companies in this country when they expand abroad should give any active trade unionist pause for thought.
Heads they win, tails we lose?
Looking at the present imperfect offering from the Labour Party and its potentially perilous impact on the future
Clearing a path for the privateers
How Iraq's unions are being attacked to allow giant oil companies to operate freely