Iraq: Sistani opposed to 20-year oil service contractsnote

Leading Shiite cleric Ali Sistani is said to be opposed to the long period of some oil service contracts awarded at the end of the second bidding round. The following 347-word report sheds light on the subject and tells how PM Nouri Al-Maliki and Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahristani are reacting, and what about the consequences. Note that the Majnoon contract awarded to Royal Dutch Shell and Petronas and the West Qurna-2 contract awarded to Lukoil and Statoil are for 20 years.