Basra leaders threaten independent oil deals
Frustrated by years of economic stagnation, provincial leaders claim rights to contract oil fields independently of the Oil Ministry.
A worker of Iraq's state-run South Oil Company walks past a crude processing facility at the Bin Umar field, Oct. 3, 2011. (ATEF HASSAN/Reuters)
BASRA - Provincial leaders are threatening to seize authority over several oil fields in Basra as a way to pay bills and fund investment in Iraq's impoverished oil capital.
Last week in Istanbul, the chairman of the council's energy committee, Ali Shaddad al-Faris, held meetings with international lawyers to map out a legal strategy for claiming and contracting fields, according to an official familiar with the discussions.
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