Baghdad, Big Oil On Alert For Retaliation To A Syria Strike
ARBIL, Iraq/LONDON, Sept 6 | Fri Sep 6, 2013 12:43pm EDT
(Reuters) - Baghdad and foreign oil companies at work in Iraq's giant oilfields are adopting extra security measures in anticipation of retaliatory attacks if the United States strikes neighbouring Syria, industry sources said on Friday.
Car bombs and other attacks in recent weeks have led to the deaths of hundreds of Iraqis as the civil war in neighbouring Syria aggravates deep-rooted sectarian divisions.
So far the violence in Iraq has not hit the operations of companies such as Exxon Mobil, BP, Eni and Royal Dutch Shell or deterred them from increasing oil output and turning Iraq into OPEC's second-biggest producer.
Since 2010, these companies have been reviving the southern fields near the oil hub of Basra, helping raise output by 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 3 million bpd, and they want to carry on expanding output without incident.
"All the foreign companies are taking additional measures to guarantee their staff remain safe," a Western oil industry source said on condition of anonymity.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/06/iraq-oil-security-idUSL6N0H22HX20130906