Terry Macalister 特里麥卡利斯特 and和 Nicholas Watt 尼古拉瓦 | The biggest ever sale of oil assets will take place today, when the Iraqi government puts 40bn barrels of recoverable reserves up for offer in London. |的有史以來最大規模的出售石油資產將在今天，當伊拉克政府將400億桶可採儲量為提供在倫敦。

BP, Shell and ExxonMobil are all expected to attend a meeting at the Park Lane Hotel in Mayfair with the Iraqi oil minister, Hussein al-Shahristani.英國石油公司，殼牌和埃克森美孚公司都將參加的一次會議上柏寧酒店在梅費爾與伊拉克石油部長侯賽因沙赫里斯塔尼。

Access is being given to eight fields, representing about 40% of the Middle Eastern nation’s reserves, at a time when the country remains under occupation by US and British forces.訪問正在考慮八個領域，約佔40 ％的中東國家的外匯儲備，當時該國仍然佔領下由美國和英國部隊。

Two smaller agreements have already been signed with Shell and the China National Petroleum Corporation, but today’s sale will ignite arguments over whether the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was a “war for oil” that is now to be consummated by western multinationals seizing control of strategic Iraqi reserves.兩個較小的協議已經簽署與殼牌和中國石油天然氣集團公司，但今天的銷售將引發爭論是否推翻薩達姆是一個“石油戰爭” ，現在要圓房西方跨國公司控制了伊拉克的戰略儲備。

Al-Shahristani is expected to reveal some kind of “risk service agreements” that could run for up to 20 years, with formal offers to be submitted by next spring and agreements signed in the summer.沙赫雷斯塔尼預計將揭示某種形式的“風險服務協議” ，可以運行長達20多年，具有正式提議將提交明年春天和簽署的協定在今年夏天。

Gregg Muttitt, from the UK-based social and ecological justice group Platform, says he is alarmed that the government is pushing ahead with its plans without the support of many in Iraq.格雷格Muttitt ，從總部設在英國的社會和生態正義組綱要說，他感到震驚的是，政府正在推進其計劃的支持，許多在伊拉克。

“Most of the terms of what is being offered have not been disclosed. “大多數條款是提供尚未披露。 There are security, political and reputational risks here for oil companies but none of them will want to see one of their competitors gain an advantage,” he said.有安全，政治和聲譽風險這裡的石油企業，但沒有人願意看到他們的競爭者獲得優勢， “他說。

Heinrich Matthee, a senior Middle East analyst at the specialist risk consultant Control Risks Group, also believes there are many pitfalls for those considering whether to make an offer.海因里希Matthee資深中東分析師專業的風險評估顧問，控制風險集團，也認為有很多陷阱對於那些考慮是否作出的要約。

“Currently it is unclear which party in Iraq is authorised to award a contract and at the same time to deliver its side of the bargain,” he said. “目前還不清楚是哪一方在伊拉克的授權頒發的合同，並同時提供其一方的義務， ”他說。 “Any contract with an independent oil company will be subjected to opposition and possible revision after pressure by resource nationalists.” “任何合同，一個獨立的石油企業將受到反對黨和可能的修訂後的資源壓力的民族主義者。 ”

Oil companies will find their reputations at risk from the actions of their Iraqi counterparties, such as joint venture partners, suppliers and agents.石油企業將找到自己的聲譽處於危險的行動伊拉克對應，如合資夥伴，供應商和代理商。 They will also have to contend with oil smuggling and the possibility that the ruling alliance could collapse, Matthee said.他們也將不得不與石油走私和可能性，即執政聯盟可能會崩潰， Matthee說。

He said that if the conspiracy theory that western oil companies egged on US and British governments to invade Iraq were true, the plan could backfire on them and benefit rivals in Asia instead.他說，如果陰謀論，西方石油企業慫恿美國和英國政府入侵伊拉克是真的，該計劃可能會適得其反他們和利益在亞洲的競爭對手不是。 “It is possible the American army has provided the economic stability that will encourage Malaysian, Chinese and other Asian companies to become involved,” he said. “這是可能的美國軍隊提供了經濟穩定，鼓勵馬來西亞，中國和其他亞洲企業參與， ”他說。

There is no precedent for proven oil reserves of this magnitude being offered up for sale, said Muttitt.有沒有先例的探明石油儲量的這種規模提供了銷售，說Muttitt 。 “The nearest thing would be the post-Soviet sale of the Kashagan field [in the Caspian Sea], which had 7bn or 8bn barrels.” “最近的事情將是蘇聯解體後出售的卡沙幹外地[在里海] ，其中70或80桶。 ”

China’s state-owned oil group, CNPC, has already agreed a $3bn (£1.78bn) oil services contract with the government of Iraq to pump oil from the Ahdab oil field.中國的國有石油集團，中石油，已經商定了一項30億美元（ £ 1.78bn ）石油服務合同，伊拉克政府對泵油Ahdab油田。

The deal is the first major oil contract with a foreign firm since the US-led war and was followed up by an agreement with Shell, potentially worth $4bn, to develop a joint venture with the South Gas Company in Basra.這項交易是首次主要的石油合同的外國公司，因為美國領導的伊拉克戰爭和隨後的協議，殼牌公司，潛在價值40億美元，建立一個合資公司與南方煤氣公司在巴士拉。

This deal has also triggered controversy.這筆交易還引發爭議。 Issam al-Chalabi, Iraq’s oil minister between 1987 and 1990, questioned why there had been no competitive tendering for the gas-gathering contract and claimed it had gone to Shell as the spoils of war.伊薩姆基地，沙拉比，伊拉克石油部長1987年至1990年，詢問為何沒有競爭性招標的氣體收集合同，並聲稱它已經殼牌作為戰利品。

“Why choose Shell when you could have chosen ExxonMobil, Chevron, BG or Gazprom?” he asked. “為什麼選擇殼牌當你可以選擇埃克森美孚，雪佛龍，血糖或俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司？ ”他問。 “Shell appears to be paying $4bn to get hold of assets that in 20 years could be worth $40bn. “殼牌似乎是支付40億美元，以掌握資產，在20年內有可能價值400億美元。 Iraq is giving away half its gas wealth and yet this work could have been done by Iraq itself.”伊拉克放棄一半的天然氣財富，但這項工作可以一直做的伊拉克本身。 “

The Baghdad government says it aims to increase crude oil production from 2.5m barrels a day to 4.5m by 2013, but faces internal opposition from regional governors and political opponents.巴格達政府說，它的目的是增加原油產量從250萬桶至4.5米，到2013年，但面臨著來自國內的反對派區域省長和政治反對派。

The sale today comes as oil prices have plummeted after stockmarket turmoil on Friday.今天的銷售際，石油價格暴跌後，股市上週五動盪。 The price of crude fell by more than $4 at one point to $75 a barrel - the lowest point since September last year and a sharp drop from its peak of $147 in July.原油價格下跌了4美元多在1點，每桶75美元-以來的最低點去年9月和急劇下滑的高峰為1 .477 。 Opec, the oil producers’ cartel, has called an emergency meeting to agree a cut in output to bolster prices in spite of protestations from politicians including Gordon Brown.歐佩克成員國，石油生產商的卡特爾，已召集緊急會議，同意削減產量提高價格，儘管抗議政客包括英國財政大臣布朗。 Brown said on Friday: “We’ve had some success in getting the price of oil down: the price this morning is roughly $80, about half what it was a few months ago.布朗說，上週五： “我們已經取得了一些成功獲得石油價格的下跌：在今天上午的價格大約是80美元，大約有一半是這是幾個月前。 I want these price cuts passed on to the consumer as quickly as possible.我想這些降價轉嫁到消費者盡快。

“I’m concerned when I hear that the Opec countries are meeting, or are about to meet, to discuss cutting production - in other words, making the price potentially higher than it should be. “我很擔心當我聽到有人說，歐佩克國家的一次會議上，或即將舉行會議，討論削減產量-換句話說，使價格可能高於應該的。

“I’m making it clear to Opec it would be wrong for the world economy and wrong for British people who are paying high petrol prices and high fuel prices to cut production and therefore keep prices high.” “我很清楚，以歐佩克將是錯誤的，世界經濟和錯誤的英國人誰支付高油價和燃油價格高企削減產量，因此，維持高油價。 ”

A government source said: “The one chink of light has been the fall in the price of oil.政府消息人士說： “一個裂口輕一直是下降的石油價格。 The last thing we want is to head into a difficult period with a return to high oil prices.過去的事情，我們需要的是進入一個困難的時期，回報率高油價。 People need to act responsibly.”人們需要以負責任的方式行事。 “