Iraq to oil investors: Our country is safe . . . come on over
Monday, December 8, 2008 Free Headline Alerts
BAGHDAD — Iraq has assured the international financial community that the country was safe for energy investment.
Officials said the Oil Ministry has been meeting with Western and other energy companies to invest in Iraq. They said the ministry has determined that Iraq contains tens of billions of barrels of crude oil and natural gas resources.
"Now the government is looking to the sector as a critical engine for future growth and economic development, and we have the full support from the government to lead the way for the national reconstruction program," Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Al Shahristani told an energy conference in Baghdad.
Al Shahristani said only several of the 78 oil and gas fields in Iraq have been developed. He said Baghdad plans to bolster daily oil production to 4.5 million barrels per day by 2013.