Oil giants Shell and Premier Oil have had talks with Baghdad with a view to exploiting Iraqi production when UN-imposed sanctions are lifted against the country, the BBC reported Tuesday.
It said Anglo-Dutch Shell and Premier Oil, which is British, had recently held technical talks on an initial contract worth some two billion dollars (2.1 billion euros).
The discussions have been suspended and no accord has been reached, the BBC added. News of the reported talks emerged on the 10th anniversary of the start of the Gulf War, and at a time when the sanctions imposed over Baghdad's invasion of Kuwait are increasingly contested.
Neither Shell nor Premier Oil were immediately available for comment. Iraq is allowed to sell some oil, but only to buy food and medicines.—AFP.
©--Agence France Presse.
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
