Iraq's chilly welcome for oil majors

When US troops stormed into Iraq in 2003, expecting to be welcomed as liberators, they all too soon learnt the pitfalls of operating in one of the most politically fractious countries in the Middle East.

A similar fate could await international oil companies that are preparing to return to Iraq under long-term contracts to be awarded at the end of this month.

The 20-year deals to boost production from six of Iraq’s biggest oilfields and two gasfields offer access to 43 billion barrels of recoverable crude, or more than a third of the oil-rich country’s 115 billion barrels of total proved reserves, as well as 5.4 trillion cubic feet of gas.