Sonangol, the state petrochemical company of Angola, has received a contract to manage the Qayara and Najmah fields in Iraq. These fields are the riskiest in Iraq, a risk reflected in relatively high per-barrel fees awarded to Sonangol.
At the same time, a Dutch court has ruled that it has jurisdiction to take a contamination case from the Nigerian delta that is being leveled at Royal Dutch Shell. Shell was naturally displeased:
"We believe there are good arguments on the basis of which the district court could have concluded that it lacks jurisdiction in respect of these purely Nigerian matters."
Although it's unsurprising that Shell made no comment on the actual allegations, it does feel just so intrinsically dodgy that they mainly just want to keep things out of a European court.
Finally, PetroChina has invested $1.7 billion in a 60% stake in two major Canadian oil sands projects. This comes a little over a year after a deal that gave PetroChina's parent company a management contract for other Iraqi oil fields.
BBC article about the Nineveh fields
BBC article about the Shell suit
BBC article about the PetroChina deal