IRAN/OIL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Just weeks ago, U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil looked poised to move ahead with a $53 billion project to boost Iraq’s oil output at its southern fields, a milestone in the company’s ambitions to expand in the country. But now a combination of contractual wrangling and security concerns, heightened by escalating tensions between Iraq’s bigger neighbor Iran and the United States, has conspired to hold back a deal, according to Iraqi government officials. The negotiations have been stymied by terms of the contract that Baghdad objects to, said four Iraqi officials involved in the discussions who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. The main sticking point, they said, was the means by which Exxon proposed to recoup its development costs, with the company aiming to share the oil produced by two fields – something Iraq opposes, saying it encroaches on state ownership of production. One of the Iraqi negotiators said Baghdad would not sign anything with the current terms proposed by Exxon.”
–Aref Mohammed, Ahmed Rasheed, “Exclusive: Exxon’s $53 billion Iraq deal hit by contract snags, Iran tensions – sources,” Reuters, June 21, 2019 11:06 pm