UN stops Chinese oil-drilling contract with Iraq
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, April 6, 2001
WASHINGTON The United Nations has blocked a contract for China to
drill 45 wells in northern Iraq.
Officials said the UN has refused to approve many of the equipment
requests for the contract by the China National Petroleum Corp. They said
the requests includes dual-use components that could be employed by the Iraqi
military.
The UN, however, has approved a contract for two Russian firms to drill
for oil in northern Iraq. Northern Iraq is largely under the control of
Kurdish separatists.
In neighboring Syria, a Western consortium is nearing completion of a
250-kilometer natural gas pipeline that could transport 175 million cubic
feet of gas per day from fields in the northeast near the Iraqi border. The
project is being carried out by Conoco and TotalFinaElf.
Syria currently produces 12 million cubic meters of gas and 600,000
barrels of oil per day.
Friday, April 6, 2001
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