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Reuters. 8 October 2002. Iraq opposition to discuss oil at U.S. meeting. WASHINGTON -- The U.S. State Department will host a group of Iraqi opposition members later this month to discuss expanding Iraq's oil and natural gas sector after the fall of Saddam Hussein, a department official said on Tuesday. Recommendations from the Iraqi opposition energy working group on how to restore [read: exploit] Iraq's oil and natural gas sector would be presented to a new Iraqi transitional government, which could implement the suggestions or ignore them, the official said. "The people we are talking to may have a role in a future Iraqi government. If they do, they can bring the ideas directly into the government themselves," the official said. Among the energy issues to be discussed at the State Department meeting will be whether Iraq should be subject to an OPEC quota limiting the country's daily oil production or be allowed to pump as much crude as it can. "Clearly, Iraq's OPEC quota will be something that they have to talk about," the official said. Iraqi opposition members will also discuss whether Iraqi oil development contracts signed by Saddam Hussein's government and foreign energy firms, most noticeably Russian companies, would be valid under a transitional government or should be rebid, the State Department official said. In a related matter, the official said the Bush administration has not decided whether such oil development contracts would be accepted by the United States in a post-Saddam government. "Clearly, at some point we're going to have to broach that, but we just haven't," the official said. Russia, which is owed several billion dollars by Iraq for past arms deliveries, has a strong interest in Iraqi oil development, including a $3.5-billion, 23-year deal with to rehabilitate Iraqi oil fields. Between 12 and 30 Iraqi opposition members will take part in the State Department meeting, which should last about two days. U.S. officials will take part in the discussions, but there will be no commercial or trade group representatives. Nonetheless, the United States is interested in making sure American oil firms don't miss out on investment opportunities in a post-Saddam government to develop Iraq's oil field and upgrade its energy facilities. "Naturally, U.S. policy generally across the board is to maximize U.S. economic and commercial influence," the official said. Iraq has oil reserves of 112 billion barrels and the country also contains 110 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ProletarianNews http://www.utopia2000.org ################################################################# ################################################################# ################################################################# ##### ##### ##### ################################################################# ################################################################# ################################################################# --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
