WHY THERE'S NO RUSH FOR IRAQ'S OIL

摘要

Since Iraq's oil fields were nationalized in 1972, thernglobal oil industry has been locked out of the war-torn country, whose 115 billion barrels in reserves are the third-largest cache in the world. An auction on June 30 in Baghdad was finally supposed to set the terms by which Iraq and the oil majors together would revive the badly neglected fields of southern Iraq and reap huge profits. So far, though, only BP and its partner, China National Petroleum Corp., have struck a deal. The two companies have agreed to triple the output of Rumaila, the most important field. The rights to seven other oil and gas fields, meanwhile, have failed to attract buyers.