BAGHDAD — More than six and a half years after the United States-led invasion here that many believed was about
oil, the major oil companies are finally gaining access to
Iraq’s petroleum reserves.
...The companies seem to have calculated that it is worth their while to accept deals with limited profit opportunities now, in order to cash in on more lucrative development deals in the future, oil industry analysts say.
...Analysts say the deals on three of the country’s top fields show that Iraq, after an embarrassing start, may be on a path to joining the world’s major oil-producing nations, which could in turn upset the equilibrium in
OPEC and increase tensions with the neighboring oil giants Iran and Saudi Arabia. Adding to those strains, development rights to 10 other Iraqi oil fields will be offered to foreign companies at a public auction in Baghdad on Dec. 11.
....The government said it expected production from the three fields alone to vault Iraq’s output to 7 million barrels a day from 2.5 million barrels a day within six years, which would move it from the world’s 13th largest producer to the fourth, according to
Department of Energy statistics.
read on...Now With Foothold in Iraq, Oil Companies Look to the Future
