Twenty years after the United States invested blood and treasure in liberating Iraq from the rule of Saddam Hussein, China is attempting to lock up control of Iraq’s oilfields.
The Western intervention in Iraq was denounced by critics as a “war for oil,” but in the end, the great authoritarian menace of the 21st Century is close to taking control of Iraq’s energy resources.reported on Tuesday that Iraq’s oil ministry has repelled three attempts by Chinese firms to gain control of the country’s petroleum resources.
China is Iraq’s top investor and Baghdad was the biggest beneficiary last year of Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative, receiving $10.5 billion in financing for infrastructure projects including a power plant and an airport. “We don’t want the Iraqi energy sector to be labeled as a China-led energy sector and this attitude is agreed by government and the oil ministry,” one official said.
Chinese state firms have secured a “dominant position” by undercutting the profit margins desired by most other investors. Baghdad may not be able to keep Beijing at bay for long, as analysts told Reuters the Western push for “green energy” is making it harder for Iraq to offer the kind of deals that would attract anyone but rapacious China.surprise
China was already well-positioned in Iraq as a major buyer of its oil and provider of infrastructure money, while U.S. and European investors are skittish about doing business in a politically unstable, violence-prone country.
Chinese President Xi Jinping raises his glass and proposes a toast during the welcome banquet for visiting leaders attending the Belt and Road Forum at the Great Hall of the People, Friday, April 26, 2019.
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