西方石油巨頭在伊拉克受挫

The future of BP’s flagship Rumaila oilfield in southern Iraq is in jeopardy after a bureaucratic snarl-up in Baghdad forced the company to axe a hundred crucial contractor jobs.

在巴格達僵化的官僚體系迫使英國石油(BP)裁掉100個重要的合同工崗位後，位於伊拉克南部的魯邁拉(Rumaila)旗艦油田的發展前景面臨威脅。

The move highlights the mounting challenges facing western oil majors in Iraq, and bodes ill for the country’s ambitious plans to revive an oil industry still recovering from years of war and sanctions. Some oil majors are so disenchanted with the difficulties of doing business in Iraq that they are considering leaving the country for good.

此舉凸顯出西方石油巨頭在伊拉克正面臨越來越大的挑戰。同時，它也預示着伊拉克重振石油工業的雄心勃勃的計劃前景不妙——該行業仍在努力從多年的戰亂和制裁恢復。部分石油巨頭對於在伊拉克開展業務已不抱幻想，以至於他們在考慮永久撤出伊拉克。

Paolo Scaroni, chief executive of Italian oil group ENI, said this month that he had told the Baghdad government: “Either you remove the obstacles or we will remove ourselves from the country.”

意大利石油集團埃尼集團(Eni)首席執行官保羅•斯卡羅尼(Paolo Scaroni)本月曾表示，他已知會巴格達政府：“如果你們不撤除相關障礙，我們將離開伊拉克。”

BP’s problems began a few months ago after the Iraqi government stopped approving big-ticket contracts related to Rumaila and stopped issuing visas for workers, according to people familiar with the matter.

據知情人士介紹，BP的問題始於幾個月前，當時伊拉克政府停止審批與魯邁拉有關的大額合同，並停止向員工發放簽證。

BP told about a hundred expat contractors this month that their contracts were being terminated with immediate effect.

這個月，BP告訴大約100名外籍合同工，他們的合同將被終止。

ENI has also been forced to lay off contractors at its Zubair field, which is near Rumaila.

埃尼集團也被迫遣散了祖拜爾(Zubair)油田的合同工。祖拜爾油田在魯邁拉油田附近。

The political uncertainty has coincided with an upsurge in violence in the country.

政治上出現不確定性之際，伊拉克暴力活動激增。

Iraqi government forces have been battling al-Qaeda affiliated militants in Fallujah and other cities in the western Anbar province since December, while dozens were killed in a wave of car bombings in Baghdad and Hilla on February 18.

自去年12月份以來，伊拉克政府軍一直在費盧傑和西部安巴爾省其他城市與基地組織的激進分子作戰。而就在2月18日，巴格達和希拉市發生的一輪汽車炸彈事件導致數十人喪生。

Attacks on foreign workers last November forced oil services groups Schlumberger and Baker Hughes, some of whose staff work at Rumaila, to suspend operations in southern Iraq, with the latter declaring force majeure.

去年11月曾發生針對外國員工的襲擊事件，迫使石油服務集團斯倫貝謝(Schlumberger)和貝克休斯公司(Baker Hughes)暫停在伊拉克南部的業務，後者宣告此舉是不可抗力因素所致。這兩家公司有部分員工在魯邁拉油田工作。

The worsening security picture comes as global oil companies are struggling to deal with Iraq’s notorious red tape and infrastructure bottlenecks that are hampering production.

就在伊拉克安全狀況不斷惡化的同時，全球石油企業還在艱難應對伊拉克臭名昭著的繁文縟節以及基礎建設上的瓶頸，兩者大大束縛了伊拉克的石油產量。