Oil groups to end 40-year exile from Iraq

International oil companies are preparing to go back into Iraq by the end of the year, in spite of Baghdad’s failure to pass an oil law and continuing concerns over security.

BP and Royal Dutch Shell are among companies expected to bid for oil service contracts in June, with the long-term objective of being allowed to develop the world’s third-largest oil reserves.

Executives from many of the world’s biggest oil companies – expelled almost 40 years ago – have assured Iraqi officials they plan to commit to working in the country.