10.3 |
Reconstruction: oil, commercial interests, debt relief, asylum and
stabilisation policy
to develop
“longer-term strategies and options”; a well-run oil industry was
essential
to Iraq’s
recovery and thus to the Coalition’s overall strategy.
331.
The UK had
selected Mr Terry Adams to join the CPA Oil Team as a
technical
expert and
Mr Ian Fletcher, Sir Andrew Turnbull’s Principal Private
Secretary,179
to
join
the CPA Oil
Team as an oil policy expert. One of Mr Fletcher’s main tasks
would be to
help
develop those longer-term strategies. The DTI reported that the CPA
had welcomed
Mr Adams’
appointment, but had been “less than enthusiastic” about
Mr Fletcher’s,
possibly
because of its view that longer-term issues should be left to the
Iraqi authorities.
332.
The Annotated
Agenda for the AHMGIR reported that the current Iraqi
Ministry
of Oil
target was to increase oil production to pre-conflict levels by
April 2004; that
appeared
optimistic.180
Uncertainties
over oil production levels and the oil price meant
that oil
revenues for 2004 remained unpredictable.
333.
The Annotated
Agenda stated that:
“Our major
concerns are that the CPA and Iraqi experts are focused on
revising
production
in the short-term and giving insufficient consideration to
long-term
strategy
…
“We are
therefore seeking to engage the US Administration and CPA
leadership
over oil
sector issues in order to gain influence over decisions and policy.
We are
inserting
two senior people into the CPA Oil Team …”
334.
The UK and the
US had agreed to establish a “senior bilateral official-level
working
group” on
“long-term oil sector issues”.
335.
The UK was
also beginning a debate with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil on ways
to
address its
skills gap.
336.
Mr Bearpark
commented in a meeting with DFID officials on 11 August that the
UK
did not
have much hope of getting senior people into the oil sector, which
was “sewn up
by the
US”.181
The record
of that meeting was copied only within DFID.
337.
On 10 and 11
August, Basra experienced severe rioting.
179
Minute DTI
[junior official] to PS/Mrs Hewitt, 23 July 2003, ‘Next Meeting of
the Ad Hoc Ministerial
Group on
Iraq’.
180
Annotated
Agenda, 7 August 2003, Ad Hoc Group on Iraq Rehabilitation
meeting.
181
Minute DFID
[junior official] to PPS/Baroness Amos, 12 August 2003, ‘Iraq:
Meeting with CPA Director
of
Operations’.
423