Moscow Urges Baghdad to Reconsider Decision to Cancel Russian Company Contract

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 17, 2002

Moscow Urges Baghdad to Reconsider Decision to Cancel Russian Company Contract

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Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov sent a letter to the Iraqi leadership Monday urging it to reconsider a decision to cancel the agreement with top Russian oil producer Lukoil on developing the huge oil fields in West Qurna ofIraq and to seek mutually acceptable solutions to the dispute.

During a visit to Manila, the Philippines, Ivanov told Russian news agencies he had made "a pretty tough" call to Iraq.

Last Thursday the Iraqi oil ministry said it was canceling the 1997 contract because Lukoil had failed to carry out its commitment to develop the West Qurna-2 oilfield in the south of the country.

The West Qurna oilfields were to be developed on the terms of production sharing, with Lukoil having a 68.5 percent share, othertwo Russian companies, Zarubezhneft and Machinoimport, 3.25 percent shares each, and the Iraqi oil ministry controlling the other 25 percent.

The West Qurna project is valued at 20 billion US dollars.

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