西方石油巨头在伊拉克受挫

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.

在巴格达僵化的官僚体系迫使英国石油(BP)裁掉100个重要的合同工岗位后，位于伊拉克南部的鲁迈拉(Rumaila)旗舰油田的发展前景面临威胁。

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.

此举凸显出西方石油巨头在伊拉克正面临越来越大的挑战。同时，它也预示着伊拉克重振石油工业的雄心勃勃的计划前景不妙——该行业仍在努力从多年的战乱和制裁恢复。部分石油巨头对于在伊拉克开展业务已不抱幻想，以至于他们在考虑永久撤出伊拉克。

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.”

意大利石油集团埃尼集团(Eni)首席执行官保罗•斯卡罗尼(Paolo Scaroni)本月曾表示，他已知会巴格达政府：“如果你们不撤除相关障碍，我们将离开伊拉克。”

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.

据知情人士介绍，BP的问题始于几个月前，当时伊拉克政府停止审批与鲁迈拉有关的大额合同，并停止向员工发放签证。

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

这个月，BP告诉大约100名外籍合同工，他们的合同将被终止。

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

埃尼集团也被迫遣散了祖拜尔(Zubair)油田的合同工。祖拜尔油田在鲁迈拉油田附近。

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

政治上出现不确定性之际，伊拉克暴力活动激增。

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月份以来，伊拉克政府军一直在费卢杰和西部安巴尔省其他城市与基地组织的激进分子作战。而就在2月18日，巴格达和希拉市发生的一轮汽车炸弹事件导致数十人丧生。

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月曾发生针对外国员工的袭击事件，迫使石油服务集团斯伦贝谢(Schlumberger)和贝克休斯公司(Baker Hughes)暂停在伊拉克南部的业务，后者宣告此举是不可抗力因素所致。这两家公司有部分员工在鲁迈拉油田工作。

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.

就在伊拉克安全状况不断恶化的同时，全球石油企业还在艰难应对伊拉克臭名昭著的繁文缛节以及基础建设上的瓶颈，两者大大束缚了伊拉克的石油产量。