Iraq: ExxonMobil, Zubair contract and the security issuenote

The Iraqi Oil Ministry still maintains to sign technical support contracts with major oil companies for some oil fields in northern and southern Iraq. This comes as ExxonMobil is said to be hesitating to go ahead with its contract for Zubair field for security reasons. The following 264-word article, published in Iraq Information Report’s issue of June 16, 2008, tells how the technical support contracts proceed and how Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahrastani is preparing the contracts for signature. The article also tells whether the Oil Ministry has succeeded in settling the security issue with ExxonMobil and the other concerned companies.