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Baghdad tells the world: "It's our oil"

Sun Jul 05 12:45PM
After a massive build up, the live broadcast proved a big letdown. Iraq offered six oil fields and two gas fields to international energy companies last week, but only one offer was taken up.

There were gasps from the conference floor when delegates saw the gap between what the government was offering and what the bidders wanted. The faces gathered around beneath a giant stage erected for the day's proceedings told the story; it had been a disappointment.

Iraq needs money. The country's public services are a shell of their former selves. It is often said that Iraq had one of the best, if not the best- educated populations in the Middle East in the 1970s. But that was the 1970s.

Three wars and 18 years of sanctions put paid to a strong education service. Ahead of Tuesday's energy auction, Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said the "huge amount" of money raised would "finance infrastructure projects across Iraq -- schools, roads, airports, housing, hospitals." That was his pitch.

Barely 24 hours after the event he went on national television and denied the auction had been a failure. Oil production will increase, meaning more money as planned, as a result of the successful British-Chinese bid for the biggest oil field on offer, assuming of course that complex contract terms are agreed in the coming months.

But Shahristani's "It's our oil" tone could not have been clearer, as he told the local audience that the foreign companies would end up getting less than one dollar per barrel produced under the deal. Mr Shahristani was clearly trying to appease his fellow Iraqis, mindful that he could be accused of conducting a sell-out.

His comments have not been lost on the international business and diplomatic community in Baghdad. "He might have been talking to Iraqis, but we heard him too," one such individual said.

In this blog, reporters and editors for global news wire AFP blog about the news they report and the challenges they face covering events from Baghdad to Beijing, the White House to Darfur. Arthur Macmillan reports for AFP from Baghdad.

Comments321 - 329 of 329

  1. Do you know, I'm going to stop reading these blogs, all they prove, is that the people who write them and presume to comment on problems of global proportions are, for the best part, ill educated morons. rfphillips - repare? repair moron, edicken1944, your entry is just nonsense, richardrankdomk, oh, most eloquent, their are religious zealots??? THERE are rel....... MORON. Shut up the lot of you, learn to spell and punctuate, then stick to putting the world to rights at the bar or the canteen at the uni, it's all you're good for, or should it be your. There you go, that will keep you idiots guessing for months, better than sodoku.

    andycjonesuk From andycjonesuk on Wed Jul 08 10:32AM

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  2. andycjones, BRILLIANT!!! I will never, ever live in the UK again, I don't know who I hate more, the lefty fusspots or the extreme fascist right wingers, both of whom seem to form the major part of the British identity these days. Give me an oil rich, Islamic country any day, I am safe, valued and able to sleep at night without people puking/shagging/peeing /shooting up and once, even pooing on my doorstep on their way home from the pub.

    zoeroyle From zoeroyle on Wed Jul 08 10:49AM

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  3. ANYONE GOT ANYTHING POSITIVE TO SAY........I LOVE LIFE,THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO BE......WHAT ALTERNATIVE IS THERE......ARE YOU THIRSTY......ARE YOU HUNGRY.......IS SOMEBODY SHOOTING AT YOU........THE PEOPLE AFFECTED BY THESE THINGS ARE TOO PREOCCUPIED TO COMMENT.....TO BUSY SURVIVING, TO GET EGOTISTICAL........TRUTH IS ,UNLESS YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED ANY OF THE ABOVE YOUR COMMENTS HAVE NO CREDENCE.......ACT DONT WHINGE. DO SOMETHING TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE,YOU WILL BE SURPRISED HOW MANY PEOPLE BENEFIT, INCLUDING YOURSELVES.

    thesiddles From thesiddles on Wed Jul 08 11:36AM

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  4. No doubt I'll get some smart Rs geek dweeb picking me up on grammer spelling and punctuation.All I have to say is Knock yourself out, if you get some satisfaction from the act.Azul.

    thesiddles From thesiddles on Wed Jul 08 11:47AM

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  5. Rubbish.

    zoeroyle From zoeroyle on Wed Jul 08 01:14PM

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  6. richard is absolutely right. Most of us know nothing of the complex issues at hand. We simply settle for the simple answers- just like the zealots, because we fear the truth, or cant be bolthered to seek for it, - which is complicated and usually implicates the rich and the powerfiul and those of us who are complacent enough to believe their propoganda, in their injustice and oppression. We need to seek peace and truth and understanding at all times with a knowledge that we are all the same wherever we are, children and adults with those who care for us and love us, not some faceless enemy who is threatenning us. We also need to press those in power who represent us to seek peace and talk rather than resort to simplistic tribal warfare. We have evolved to care for the weak and the vulnerable - and the ignorant. Lets have the maturity and guts to stand up for peace and Love and faith in humanity no matter what God we seek and serve. (Even capitalism!)

    cris2189 From cris2189 on Thu Jul 09 07:09PM

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  7. 335 andycjonesuk........spot on!...except...even though my spelling is quite good,my grammar passable,articulate enough to get by at functions without embarrasment,and to know when to use you're and their or your and there,I'm still a moron as I don't say anything intelligent,unlike my ill educated plumber friend,who quite rightly stated that your a @#$%.

    timothy_cronshaw From timothy_cronshaw on Thu Jul 09 11:36PM

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  8. zoeroyal...brilliant comment...of course you and all other women are much safer in an Islamic country!...just don't be seen in the street with a man who isn't your husband,or you will get raped,publicly flogged,then jailed.........and watch out for the camel poo

    timothy_cronshaw From timothy_cronshaw on Thu Jul 09 11:42PM

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  9. timothy_cronshaw

    how about visiting a muslim country and then passing such remarks?
    but oh noes wait, you prefer watchin TV.

    dumass american.

    omarfrq1 From omarfrq1 on Sat Jul 11 06:48PM

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