INTERVIEW: U.S. Oil Firms Turn to Russia for Help

By Dmitry Zhdannikov
MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. oil firms in Iraq have had to ask for Russian help to rebuild an oil infrastructure that was dominated by the Soviet Union for decades, the head of Russian state firm Zarubezhneft told Reuters on Friday.

Zarubezhneft has big interests in Iraq, and its President Nikolai Tokarev said Russian firms were poised to return there as contractors when political stability allows.

But he was skeptical of chances for big exploration deals.

"American companies have weighed up their capabilities and come to the conclusion they can't do without us," Tokarev said in an interview.

Zarubezhneft has had talks with the second largest U.S. oil firm ChevronTexaco, he said, as well as the world's biggest land-based drilling contractor, Nabors Industries, and a number of other U.S. oil service firms.

"They would like to see us as their partners, which shows that common sense is finally prevailing," he said.

"Iraq bought energy equipment mainly from the Soviet Union and Russia. You cannot quickly replace it. Those who are involved in the industry today say that nothing can be changed quickly without Russian involvement," he said.

more...

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=reutersEdge&storyID=5221283

Talk about irony.

always will be the sleeping giant. There is where the true world power lies. D ; )

they didn't have the technology to take the oil?