• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

US sees no cut in Iraq oil attacks after Zarqawi

Posted on: Monday, 12 June 2006, 14:43 CDT

By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is not expecting a decrease in attacks on Iraq's oil infrastructure in the short term after the death of Al Qaeda's Iraq group leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said on Monday.

"We are not counting on any change, at least near term," Bodman told reporters. But he added: "I suppose time will only tell."

Bodman pointed out that attacks from the insurgency were still occurring in Iraq. "I would expect that would continue at least for a while," he said.

Iraq's oil sector, which the Bush administration hoped would be a big revenue raiser to help rebuild Iraq, has been subject to repeated attacks on its pipelines and oil export facilities.

Iraq's crude oil production in May was 1.9 million barrels a day, down sharply from almost 2.6 million barrels a day in January 2003, just before the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Its oil exports averaged 1.5 million barrels a day in May.

Before the war, energy experts had estimated that Iraq had sustained oil production capacity of between 2.8 to 3 million barrels a day and a net oil export potential of 2.3 to 2.5 million barrels per day. Iraq has the world's third largest crude oil reserves at 115 billion barrels.

After speaking with reporters, Bodman left for Camp David in Maryland where President Bush and other members of his cabinet were holding two days of meetings on Iraq's future.

Bodman said the discussions will likely include "steps that our government could take to encourage" an increase in Iraq's oil production and exports.

He said that Iraq's oil sector was very important to the Iraqi people and the country's economy. Iraq is also the sixth biggest foreign oil supplier to the United States.

Key to boosting Iraq's oil production is investment by foreign energy companies in the country's underdeveloped and undiscovered oil fields.

Iraq says it needs up to $20 billion in investment to increase its oil production to 6 million barrels a day.

However, many foreign oil companies are reluctant to do much business with Iraq because of the country's ongoing violence that has caused unsafe working conditions for their employees.

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category