 BEIJING -- China and Iraq are reviving a $1.2 billion deal signed by Beijing and Saddam Hussein's government in 1997 to develop an Iraqi oil field, Baghdad's oil minister said Saturday.
Officials will meet next month to renegotiate the agreement over the al-Ahdab field, said Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani. He was wrapping up a three-nation tour to secure investment for Iraq's oil industry. "If agreement is reached very quickly then I expect them to start working right away," al-Shahristani said at a news conference.
| This might be a reasonable deal. The Chinese will pump cash into the country; perhaps having another paying customer will calm the south down a little. |
State-owned China National Petroleum Corp. signed the al-Ahdab deal in the midst of U.N. sanctions that barred direct dealings with Iraq's oil industry. Beijing was waiting for sanctions to end when the U.S. invasion in 2003 overthrew Saddam's government. The new Baghdad government courted Beijing because Chinese producers have been willing to invest in Angola, Sudan and other countries considered too dangerous or politically isolated.
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