1) Iraqi government
Husayn al-Shahristani, Iraq Oil Minister, 23 May 2006 [1]:
"There is need to pass an oil and gas law to guarantee the right conditions for international companies to help develop the Iraqi oil sector... We will start contacts with the largest oil companies in the world who want to come in".
Ahmad Chalabi, former Chair of Energy Council (responsible for high-level oil policy in Ja'afari government), November 2005 [2]:
"In order to make major quantum increases in oil, we need to have production-sharing agreements"
Shamkhi Faraj, Director General of marketing and economics, Ministry of Oil, April 2006 [3]:
"The investment law could take some time and we are not prepared to wait for that long... I think (negotiations) can happen very fast. I am confident that we can do our own legislation within the contract itself to assure the investors that if any new regulation comes through it will not affect them. What we have on offer are the oilfields in the south, the big ones that will add some 3 million barrels per day to our production and that's what the big companies are looking for."
2) US/UK governments
Dick Cheney, speaking as CEO of Halliburton, 1999 [4]:
"By 2010 we will need on the order of an additional fifty million barrels a day. So where is the oil going to come from?... While many regions of the world offer great oil opportunities, the Middle East with two thirds of the world's oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies."
Dick Cheney's (as US Vice President) energy task force, 2001 [5]:
"By any estimation, Middle East oil producers will remain central to world oil security. The Gulf will be a primary focus of US international energy policy."
UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, summer 2004 [6]:
“It has been estimated that a minimum of US$ 4 billion would be needed to restore production to its 1990 levels of 3.5 million barrels per day (mbd), and perhaps US$ 25 billion to achieve 5 mbd. ... Given Iraq's needs, it is not realistic to cut government spending in other areas, and Iraq would need to engage with the International Oil Companies (IOCs) to provide appropriate levels of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to do this.”
Bearing Point report on Iraqi oil options, for USAID, December 2003 [7]:
“Using some form of [production sharing agreements] with a competitive rate of return has proved the most successful way to attract [international oil company] investment to expand oil productive capacity significantly and quickly.”
Dan Speckhard, US Ambassador for Reconstruction in Iraq, 27 March 2006 [8]:
"The oil companies will be very interested in ensuring how they have the support in terms of the legal rights to returns for their investment, and if there are any disagreements in contractual arrangements, how those are handled in courts and how they are enforced".
3) Oil companies
Ken Derr, Chairman and CEO, Chevron Corporation [9]:
"Iraq possesses huge reserves of oil and gas -- reserves I'd love Chevron to have access to."
Archie Dunham, Chairman of ConocoPhillips [10]:
"We know where the best [Iraqi] reserves are and we covet the opportunity to get those some day."
Walter van der Vijver, CEO Shell Exploration & Production [11]:
"International oil companies can make an ongoing contribution to the [Gulf] region... However, in order to secure that investment, we will need some assurance of future income and, in particular, a supportive contractual framework... One option is the greater use of production sharing agreements, which have proved very effective in achieving an appropriate balance of incentives between Governments and oil companies."
International Tax & Investment Center, representing oil companies BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, ENI and Total, autumn 2004 [12]:
“The most appropriate legal and fiscal form for the facilitation of [Foreign Direct Investment] longer-term development of Iraq's petroleum industry will be a production sharing agreement (PSA).”
References:
1: International Oil Daily, 24/5/06, 'Iraq's New Minister Courts Oil Firms, Faces Big Challenges' Back
2: Reuters, 12/11/05, 'Iraq exports could hit pre-war levels in '06-Chalabi' Back
3: China Daily, 22/4/06, 'Iraq set to negotiate oilfield contracts with world majors' Back
4: Dick Cheney, speech at the Institute of Petroleum Autumn lunch, London, 15 November 1999 Back
5: National Energy Policy Development Group, National Energy Policy report, May 2001, p.8-5 Back
6: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Code of Practice for the Iraq Oil Industry, undated (summer 2004), pp.4-5 Back
7: Bearing Point, report to USAID, Options for Developing a Long Term Sustainable Iraqi Oil Industry, 19 December 2003 Back
8: press briefing, Baghdad, 27/3/06 Back
9: Ken Derr, speech on 'Engagement - A Better Alternative', 5/11/98 Back
10: Carola Hoyos, 'Big players anticipate Iraq's return to fold', Financial Times, 20 February, 2003 Back
11: Walter van der Vijver, speech to ECSSR conference, 'A new era for international oil companies in the Gulf: opportunities and challenges', Abu Dhabi, 19 October 2003 Back
12: International Tax & Investment Centre (ITIC), Petroleum and Iraq's Future: Fiscal Options and Challenges, Fall 2004, p. 3 Back
