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To: AugustWest who wrote (52388)	6/14/2004 5:20:10 AM
From: AugustWest	Respond to of 57110

(COMTEX) Earlier hopes for Iraq's oil industry were ``too optimistic,'' though potenti l remains, says Greenstock ( AP WorldStream ) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jun 14, 2004 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Iraq could become a major oil supplier if the incoming government can deliver security and stability and attract foreign investors to help rehabilitate the country's decrepit refineries, Britain's former envoy to Iraq said Monday. Iraq has the potential to more than double its current production of 2.5 million barrels of crude per day to reach as much as 6 million barrels per day, Jeremy Greenstock told an Asian Oil and Gas conference in Kuala Lumpur. But Iraq needs as much as US$20 billion in foreign investment in the next few years just to reach 4 million barrels per day, he said. Earlier hopes that significant amounts of foreign investment would be flowing into Iraq's oil sector by the end of this year now "looks too optimistic," Greenstock said, because of continuing violence and because investors will probably wait for elections and a more stable Iraqi government to take shape in late 2005. "If it were not for the violence, we could be optimistic about Iraq," said Greenstock, who was senior U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer's deputy in Iraq until he stepped down recently. "I think security is going to be a problem throughout this transitional period. There will be violence during the elections." He noted that Iraq has proven reserves at 112 billion barrels of oil, with probable reserves estimated at more than 200 billion barrels. "Iraq stands second only to Saudi Arabia as a sustained supplier of oil to world markets for the next century," Greenstock said. "But potential investors will watch closely how Iraq develops the industry's framework." Quelling the violence in Iraq would be crucial to the country's future, Greenstock said, adding the he believed that most Iraqis want their country to succeed, though they want the U.S.-led coalition to complete its task and leave. Greenstock expressed regret that coalition forces had not established security in Iraq more swiftly after last year's invasion, saying there was "a vacuum in security developments in the weeks after the war was over" that was contributing to today's violence. He downplayed suspicions that Washington wants to control Iraq's oil industry, and urged the creation of a new national oil company under to oversee rebuilding of Iraq's refineries, which were "old, inflexible and in need of urgent modernization or replacement. By SEAN YOONG Associated Press Writer= ap_topic:Business;ap_topic:General; Copyright 2004 Associated Press, All rights reserved -0- APO Priority=r (PROFILE (WS SL:BC-AS-GEN--Malaysia-Oil Conference-Iraq; CT:i; (REG:EURO;) (REG:BRIT;) (REG:SCAN;) (REG:MEST;) (REG:AFRI;) (REG:ENGL;) (REG:ASIA;) (LANG:ENGLISH;)) ) KEYWORD: KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia * end of story *