Iraq Woos China To Revive Neglected Oil Industry
--China's largest oil producers are heading the race to capture energy deals in Iraq, but a $1.2 billion deal signed with the regime of ex-President Saddam Hussein must be renegotiated before work on the billion-barrel al-Ahdab oil field can begin.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani told reporters Saturday that representatives of China National Petroleum Corp. will sit down for formal talks next month over the al-Ahdab contract that it signed in 1997.
An invitation has also been extended to state-owned China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec Group, to construct refineries in Iraq, although China's biggest refiner by capacity has yet to respond with an offer, he said.
"We agreed next month that we will start discussions," said al-Shahristani, referring to the al-Ahdab field.
These talks will be attended by three to four representatives from each side, including from Iraq's Ministry of Oil and CNPC's unit in the country.
He added: "If agreement is reached very quickly then I expect them to start working right away."
Iraq has courted China because it is the world's second largest energy consumer, and its energy insecurity makes it willing to operate projects in countries like Angola and Sudan that are considered too risky by western rivals.
Beijing had expected to be overlooked in Iraq until the insurgency there intensified, with the U.S. and its allies previously seen to be in prime position to cherry pick the best oil deals.
Iraq has a target of increasing its oil production to between 4 million barrels per day and 4.5 million b/d by the year 2010 from its current level of just under 2.5 million b/d. Only a quarter of its 80 discovered fields are pumping oil at present.
Al-Shahristani said concerns about the security of operating in Iraq did not feature in his meetings with China's four biggest oil companies - namely CNPC, Sinopec, China National Offshore Oil Corp., and Sinochem.
This was because the fields interesting the Chinese were in the southern part of Iraq where violence was minimal, although Iraq also wanted to develop areas in its western desert and the region of Kurdistan in the north.
In addition to the CNPC deal for al-Ahdab, all other energy contracts signed with foreign countries and companies during the Saddam era would have to be renegotiated when Iraq's new oil and gas law is passed by legislators, likely to be before the end of this year.
Al-Shahristani said that al-Ahdab would be among the first fields offered to foreign oil companies, which will need to demonstrate technical and financial capability as well as a proven record in producing oil to make a shortlist for developing its assets.
Iraq's oil infrastructure suffered from years of neglect under Saddam and following the fall of his regime, with traders reporting that Iraqi crude has become heavier and contains more sulfur than it did before the 1991 Gulf War.
Up to $20 billion will need to be invested in developing Iraq's oil infrastructure, the oil minister said.
But he added: "We are not short of such investment. Major oil companies are offering more than that just to come and develop Iraqi fields."
Al-Shahristani was visiting China at the end of a three-stop Asian tour that has taken him to Japan and Australia.
His itinerary in China included meetings with Ma Kai and Zhang Guobao, respectively minister and vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, which is the country's economic planning agency.
In the first eight months of this year, China imported a total of 510,917 metric tons of crude oil from Iraq, or an average of around 15,400 b/d. This represented just 0.5% of China's total and a hefty 36.3% drop against the same period last year.
With Iraqi production targeted to reach 3 million b/d by the end of this year, Al-Shahristani said most of any increase in exports would go to Asia.
Japan is also a consumer of Iraqi crude, although volumes are small and accounted for only about 1% of the 4.19 million b/d that the country imported from overseas in the fiscal first half that ended September.
中国将就萨达姆时期的石油协议重新谈判
中国石油天然气集团公司(China National Petroleum Corp.)在1997年与伊拉克前总统萨达姆?侯赛因(President Saddam Hussein)政府签署的价值12亿美元的al-Ahdab油田开发协议需重新进行谈判，伊拉克石油部长沙赫雷斯塔尼(Hussain al-Shahristani)上周六在北京表示。
沙赫雷斯塔尼在一次新闻发布会上向记者表示，中国石油集团公司的代表将于下月起与伊拉克官员举行正式磋商，并称，如果双方能够很快达成协议，这一储量达10亿桶的油田的生产预计将立刻启动。
他还表示，伊拉克已邀请中国石油集团公司为该国建设炼油厂，目前正在等待该公司的报价。
伊拉克希望在能源问题上与中国开展合作是因为中国是全球的第二大原油消费国，而且在能源供应短缺的情况下，中国愿意在安哥拉和苏丹等西方国家认为风险太大的国家经营能源项目。
此前，外界认为在能源合作方面，美国及其盟友将获得伊拉克石油交易中利润最为丰厚的项目，而中国则可能会被伊拉克忽视。不过在伊拉克的安全局势恶化后，这种情况发生了改变。
伊拉克的目标是，到2010年将该国的石油日产量从目前的250万桶提高至400万-450万桶。在伊拉克已发现的80个油田中，目前仅有四分之一在生产。
沙赫雷斯塔尼表示，双方已同意于11月份开始（有关al-Ahdab油田的）磋商。
双方将各有3-4名代表参与谈判，其中包括伊拉克石油部的官员和中国石油集团公司在伊拉克的管理人士。
沙赫雷斯塔尼还表示，如果协议能够很快达成，他预计上述油田的生产将立即展开。
沙赫雷斯塔尼称，在他与中国四大石油公司的会晤中并未着重讨论在伊拉克经营能源项目的安全问题。这四大石油公司是中国石油集团公司、中国石油化工集团公司(China Petrochemical Corporation)、中国海洋石油总公司(China National Offshore Oil Corp.)和中国中化集团公司(Sinochem Corp.)。
双方会谈中未着重讨论安全问题是因为，中国感兴趣的油田在伊拉克南部，那里的暴力活动很少，不过伊拉克也希望开发该国西北沙漠和北部库尔德斯坦地区。
除了与中国石油集团公司签署的al-Ahdab油田协议外，在伊拉克立法机构通过新的石油和天然气法律后，该国在萨达姆时期与外国政府和公司签署的其他所有能源合同都需重新进行谈判，新的石油和天然气法律可能会在今年年底前通过。
沙赫雷斯塔尼此行除了访问中国外，还将于近日访问日本和澳大利亚。
他在中国的日程安排包括与中国国家发展和改革委员会(National Development and Reform Commission)主任马凯和副主任张国宝的会晤。
David Winning / Renya Peng
