IRN Takes Over IRQ Oil Well

[The Bread Guy]

Given the history here, I keep my fingers crossed - this, courtesy of AFP:

Iranian forces took control of a southern Iraqi oil well on a disputed section of the border on Friday, US and Iraqi officials told AFP.

"There has been no violence related to this incident and we trust this will be resolved through peaceful diplomacy between the governments of Iraq and Iran," a US military spokesman told AFP at Contingency Operating Base Adder, just outside the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.

"The oil field is in disputed territory in between Iranian and Iraqi border forts," he said, adding that such incidents occur quite frequently.

An official of the state-owned South Oil Co in the southeastern city of Amara, and west of the field, said: "An Iranian force arrived at the field early this morning (Friday).

"It took control of Well 4 and raised the Iranian flag even though the well lies in Iraqi territory," the official added.

"An oil ministry delegation is to travel to the area on Saturday to assess the situation." ....

 

[Journeyman]

The well is apparently Fauqa Field's No. 4 Well in the Maysan province.  If so, then it's part of the oilfield complex, made up of Fauqa, Abu Gharab, and Bazargan (with their estimated 2.463 billion barrels of reserves), which were put up for sale last summer. The only bid received was from China.

May as well have the PRC pissd off and mucking about in the region too 

 

[tango22a]

Just another jab by Ahmedinejad and his cronies to keep the pot boiling and raise the ante in the Persian Gulf.


tango22a

 

[CougarKing]

And Iraq responds:

From the Associated Press via Yahoo News

BAGHDAD – Iraq deployed security forces Saturday near a remote oil well seized by Iran, officials said, and its government pressed Tehran to withdraw its forces from the area along their disputed southern border.
U.S. officials applauded Iraq for standing its ground against Iran — an uneasy ally that analysts said was aiming to remind its neighbor of its economic and political pull in its takeover of the oil well Thursday. The site is located in one of the largest oil fields in Iraq and has about 1.5 billion barrels in reserves.

The standoff was a dramatic display of the occasionally tense relations between the two oil-rich nations that fought an eight-year war in the 1980s but now share common ground in Shiite-led governments.

"Again, we ask Iran to be committed to the good relations that they announced with Iraq and its nation, and to withdraw its forces immediately," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Al-Arabiyah TV. "This is the demand of Iraq, and we call Iran to be committed with that."

(...)

 

[CougarKing]

And Iran backs down by withdrawing her troops.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091220/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_iraq

BAGHDAD – A standoff between Iraq and Iran over a remote oil well ended peacefully Sunday as Iranian forces pulled back from the disputed site. In Baghdad, officials approved a preliminary deal with an international group to develop one of Iraq's most prized oil fields.
Together, the events highlighted the economic and diplomatic challenges facing Iraq as it tries to expand its reach in the global oil market.

(...)