Russia and China have been working hard behind the scenes to exert influence in Iraq through a large number of deals in its oil and gas sector
. Aside from the obvious energy advantages to China of such an agreement, it was also aware that this pact would create an enormous perceived security threat to Iran’s arch-historical enemy, Saudi Arabia. From that point, then, China capitalised on Saudi Arabia’s fears to further leverage the relationship it had developed with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman via a face-saving offer over the Aramco IPO that enabled him to become heir to King Salman, as also .
The longstanding division of tasks between China and Russia is evident in the current phase of their takeover of Iraq’s oil and gas sector. Well-known Russian oil and gas firms are present in major exploration and development contracts across the country, including in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, which it uses to - and therefore leverage - with southern Iraq. West Qurna 2 is a key example of this approach.
It is a testament to the effectiveness of China’s low-profile strategy in several Iraqi oilfields that although Daqing Drilling Engineering Company has been present in the Rumaila field in one capacity or another since 2010, it has attracted no attention whatsoever. This is even odder, as Rumaila is Iraq’s biggest oilfield, with an estimated 17 billion barrels in proven reserves, and current production of around 1.4 million bpd.
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