Friday August 29, 2008
China, Iraq revise deal to develop Iraqi oil field
China and Iraq have signed a $3-billion (U.S.) deal revising a prewar agreement for China's government-owned China National Petroleum Corp. to help develop the Ahdab oil field, an official at the Iraq's Oil Ministry said yesterday. The deal, restoring a project cancelled after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, was signed late Wednesday by Chinese officials and Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani. An official at the Oil Ministry in Baghdad confirmed the deal would be worth $3-billion. The government of Saddam Hussein signed a deal in 1997 with the oil company. A CNPC spokesman, Liu Weijiang, said yesterday he could not provide any information on the new agreement. From Print Edition, 29/08/08
Kremlin may pump rubles into slumping market
The government is considering investing in the Russian stock market to break a weeks-long fall of local shares, a senior Russian lawmaker said yesterday.''I think the time has come for the state to step in discreetly and invest,'' said Pavel Medvedev, a member of the State Duma's financial markets committee. ''The idea is being discussed - in the Duma and, more importantly, in the government.'' He would not specify the proposed amount of investment. From Print Edition, 29/08/08
