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To: Fred Levine who wrote (67104)	12/12/2002 1:52:06 PM
From: Fred Levine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Talks Between U.S. and Russia On Oil and Iraq Are Confirmed By JEANNE WHALEN Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL MOSCOW -- A Russian oil executive Tuesday provided the first specific details of negotiations between the U.S. and Russia on Iraqi oil, saying the Americans were trying to persuade Russian oil companies to abandon Saddam Hussein in exchange for promises that their claims to Iraqi oil reserves would be preserved under a new regime. Until now such U.S.-Russian talks have been widely assumed by analysts but not confirmed. Mr. Hussein has offered Russian oil companies the rights to more than 25 billion barrels of Iraqi oil, which is part of the reason Moscow has hesitated to support U.S. plans to oust him. Washington has said it is taking Russia's economic interests into account as it makes plans for Iraq but has denied making any quid-pro-quo offers to Russia. But Nikolai Tokarev, general director of state-owned Zarubezhneft oil company, told Russian newspaper Vremya Novostei the Americans were offering Russian oil companies incentives to switch sides and support the Iraqi opposition. Mr. Tokarev didn't specify whether American government officials or oil companies had made the offers but said some Russian oil companies were listening to the proposals. He said the Americans had asked his company to finance the Iraqi opposition. But Zarubezhneft has declined to enter such negotiations, he said, calling them "a dirty game." Mr. Tokarev also said he believed such American pledges couldn't be trusted. A Zarubezhneft spokeswoman said Mr. Tokarev was out of the office and wasn't available for further comment. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow Tuesday said the embassy was "unaware of any efforts to encourage Russian oil companies to support the Iraqi opposition in exchange for consideration of Russian oil interests in post-Saddam Iraq, as reported in Vremya Novostei today." Russian oil companies have signed one contract with the Iraqi capital Baghdad and negotiated several handshake deals they say give them rights to large oil reserves. In 1997, OAO Lukoil, Russia's largest oil company, and Iraqi oil officials signed a contract giving the Russians control of the giant West Qurna field, which holds 15 billion barrels of oil. Zarubezhneft owns a minority stake in the project. The contract stipulates that investment can't begin until United Nations sanctions on Iraq are lifted. A spokeswoman for Lukoil declined to comment on whether the company was discussing Iraq with U.S. officials or oil companies. fred