Dianavan & CarolC,

For your information. You know those evil PSA's that Dianavan mentioned whereby all those big bad Western Oil Companies are forcing the Iraqi Government to sign, in order to "steal" Iraq's natural resources.

Well research, indicates that only three have ever been signed with regard to Iraq oil fields:
- Lukoil (Russian) when Saddam Hussein was in power
- Total (French) when Saddam Hussein was in power
- DNO (Norwegian) see below

OSLO (AFX) - The Norwegian oil company DNO ASA said it has begun oil prospecting in Iraqi Kurdistan, in what Norway's media said was the first drilling by a foreign group since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.

DNO said drilling in the Tawke 1 well is expected to take 60 days to reach a depth of 3,000 metres in a zone that is believed to contain three separate oil reserves.

The company, which is the operator of the block and has a 40 pct stake, said this was the first oil exploration undertaken following a production sharing agreement signed with the Kurdish authorities in June 2004.