Word: iraqi
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Roughly once a week, a flotilla of half a dozen or so tankers heaves into the steamy southern Iraqi port of Khur al-Zubar, and the normally sleepy docks jump to life. Teams of workers scramble over ships arriving mainly from Dubai, Bahrain and other points around the Persian Gulf to connect hoses for the flow of diesel, kerosene and gasoline. Old-fashioned gas-station tickers beside the ships clatter as thousands of liquid tons begin moving...
...fuel as vast amounts of oil and gas sit untapped in the ground. Iraq's oil industry needs a virtual overhaul to reach a level of production that could erase chronic fuel shortages in the country and rake in windfall profits to be had on the world market. The Iraqi government and more than two dozen oil companies are in the midst of drafting plans to begin the work. But the chances of success anytime soon are far from certain. Political pitfalls in Baghdad and ground realities in areas where resources rest could undo the long-awaited bonanza before...
...year. The goal is to get Iraq, currently producing about 2 million bbl. a day, pumping up to 3 million by the end of 2009. The eight oil projects on offer to outside companies chiefly involve refurbishing and developing various oil and gas fields in southern Iraq. American and Iraqi officials say the projects can go forward without passage of a long-delayed national oil law, as long as each contract individually is approved by the Iraqi government and endorsed by the parliament...
...company looking to get involved in Iraq faces some major disincentives. Without an oil law, which appears unlikely anytime soon because of political bickering, companies wanting to start work in Iraq must essentially lobby both the Iraqi parliament and the government, which rarely find consensus. Two of the biggest projects, gas fields in the provinces of Anbar and Diyala, sit in territory plagued by violence and tribal politics. And none of the ventures are likely to allow companies to have a stake in any newly discovered oil reserves, the real moneymaking prize. "These deals themselves are not likely...
...open question is whether Qalibaf's modern style and conservative credentials could combine to enable him to improve relations with the West. He expresses delight with the U.S.'s overthrow of Saddam and support for the U.S.-backed Iraqi government, with which he recently held talks in Baghdad. "We sit down at one table to talk about specific issues, such as Iraq," Qalibaf says. "This shows that we can sit down at other tables too and talk with the U.S. [on other issues]." But it is vital, he adds, that the U.S. finally accepts the legitimacy of Iran's revolution...