An article by Andrew E. Kramer
appearing on the website of the New York Times last night reports on
the awarding of no-bid contracts to Exxon-Mobil, Shell, Total, BP, and
Chevron.
The
no-bid contracts are unusual for the industry, and the offers prevailed
over others by more than 40 companies, including companies in Russia,
China and India.
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While
the contracts are not large, they are considered important by industry
analysts for establishing position with respect to a series of
lucrative new contracts which are expected to open up soon.
“The
bigger prize everybody is waiting for is development of the giant new
fields,” Leila Benali, an authority on Middle East oil at Cambridge
Energy Research Associates, said in a telephone interview from the
firm’s Paris office. The current contracts, she said, are a “foothold”
in Iraq for companies striving for these longer-term deals.
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One
question: since the oil companies are obviously benefiting from the
American occupation of Iraq, when are they going to start paying some
of the war's costs?
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