Iraq: Iranian troops left disputed oil well

[unhappycamper]

Iraq: Iranian troops left disputed oil well
By Lara Jakes - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Dec 20, 2009 11:33:31 EST

BAGHDAD — A standoff between Iraq and Iran over a remote oil well ended peacefully Sunday as Iranian forces pulled back from the disputed site. In Baghdad, officials approved a preliminary deal with an international group to develop one of Iraq’s most prized oil fields.

Together, the events highlighted the economic and diplomatic challenges facing Iraq as it tries to expand its reach in the global oil market.

In Iraq’s southern Maysan province, soldiers escorted about a dozen oil workers back to well No. 4 on the al-Fakkah oil field after Iranian forces withdrew overnight. Iraqi soldiers planted the Iraqi flag on the well where Iran’s flag had flown during the dispute that began last Thursday.

“The problem is solved now,” Abdul-Karim Elaibi, Iraq’s senior deputy oil minister, told The Associated Press. Diplomatic talks over the disputed border were continuing, he said.

Well No. 4 stopped producing oil in the 1980s as a result of the Iran-Iraq war, but “Iranian harassment” started in 2007 after Iraq worked to get the well operational again, he said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_iran_iraq_oil_well_122009/