Lukoil and ConocoPhillips team up to secure Iraqi reserves
I didn't see this posted...I apologize if it is a duplicate. I was hoping someone with more knowledge than I might be able to explain the significance behind this.....and stuff......thank you....MOSCOW - ConocoPhillips’s nearly $2 billion strategic investment in Russia may have been marked by an American flag flying over the headquarters of Lukoil, the country’s second largest oil producer. But both companies hope their partnership will reap profits thousands of miles away – in Iraq.
....snip
But the investment in Russia also underscores the high-stakes maneuvering by oil companies posturing for political and financial advantage in Iraq.
Lukoil’s pipedreams
Before the U.S. war in Iraq, Lukoil signed lucrative contracts with Saddam Hussein’s government, only to see the agreements suspended -- first by Saddam and then by the U.S. interim government. The largest contract, to develop the massive West Qurna field, could yield 500,000 million barrels a day.
While the West Qurna deal was not a decisive factor in the ConocoPhillips-Lukoil partnership, Iraq plays significantly into both companies’ strategies, analysts say.
“This was like the icing on the cake for both companies,” said Chris Waefer, chief strategist for Moscow’s Alfa Bank.
After seeing its fortunes in decline due to Russia’s opposition to the war, Lukoil has improved its image by taking on an American partner.
...snip
“The risk of Lukoil losing West Qurna has certainly declined,” analyst Waefer said. “The partnership makes it difficult for the U.S. administration to go and take the rights away from Lukoil if ConocoPhillips is with it.”
..more
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6138961/
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
