Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Iraq dealing with oil groups

Tribune Newspapers

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi government on Thursday signed a deal with a consortium led by U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil Corp. to develop a major oil field in southern Iraq, marking the first entry by an American-dominated group into Iraq’s oil industry since it was nationalized in 1972.

The deal coincides with a flurry of activity this week that suggests major oil companies are finally poised to return to Iraq, more than six years after the U.S. invasion raised hopes of access to some of the world’s largest oil reserves.

This week, a group led by Italy’s Eni initialed a preliminary agreement, and Britain’s BP and China National Petroleum Corp. finalized an accord to develop oil fields in the south.