Oil groups eye stake in wake of conflict
BP and Shell have discussed with the government the prospect of claiming a stake in Iraq's oil reserves in the aftermath of war.
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The two oil groups have talked with Downing Street and Whitehall officials about the commercial benefits from developing the country's huge oilfields once Saddam Hussein is toppled.
Shell has discussed the issue at a wide-ranging meeting with Geoffrey Norris, the prime minister's senior policy adviser. BP has pressed the case with Whitehall officials that the UK should not lose out to US industry.
Both BP and Shell emphasised yesterday that Iraq was only discussed "in passing".
One senior Whitehall insider said the companies' arguments had, however, been sympathetically received. The insider added that although the value of the oil would be handed back to the Iraqis, the US and the UK were keen to use some of the proceeds of developing it to offset the cost of war.
The disclosure prompted scepticism from MPs opposed to conflict. Peter Kilfoyle, the Labour former defence minister, said: "I think it reinforces the view of those people that oil is a major issue in all this."
Lord Browne, BP's chief executive, recently called for a "level playing field" for all oil companies in postwar Iraq, which has the second largest oil reserves in the world.
Shell said: "The point that we have made is that if there's a war there should be a level playing field for oil companies so that everybody has got a fair opportunity."
BP said: "If the then government in Iraq wanted foreign investment we would like to be able to compete for new opportunities. In our informal meetings with government representatives we have made our position clear."
One scheme would see a so-called "production sharing contract" with the oil split between Iraq and the international companies developing it.
But the groups caution that any future Iraqi government may choose not to engage international companies.
