Still waiting: to seal deals
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- Maliki defends Iraq Oil Minister
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- Shahristani in the firing line
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Fresh delay hits Iraq deals
Iraq's Cabinet cancelled a meeting today at which it had been expected to approve deals with major Western players for the West Qurna and Zubair oilfields, because too many ministers were out of town, officials said.
It was not immediately clear when the decisions would now be taken, but Cabinet would likely try to hold a session before its next scheduled meeting on 24 November, Ali al-Moussawi, manager of the government's National Media Centre, told reuters.
A decision had been expected at last Tuesday's Cabinet meeting but Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said at the time it had been delayed until 17 November.
He had expected Cabinet to approve an initial deal with a group led by Italian giant Eni for the Zubair field after addressing some issues raised by its legal panel.
Approval of an initial deal for the West Qurna oilfield, sealed with an ExxonMobil-led group that includes Shell, had also been delayed until today.
But a total of 11 ministers were travelling outside the country this week, including those with President Jalal Talabani in France, Moussawi said.
The Zubair and West Qurna deals are two of several major contracts that Iraq is signing with global oil companies in an effort to almost triple current oil production of around 2.5 million barrels per day in six or seven years.