For the majors, Middle East oil loses some lustre

Poor investment terms, political risk and the weak oil price have made the majors less keen on the Middle East

International oil company (IOC) chiefs have grown so used to meagre returns from the Middle East that you might forgive their collective shrug of the shoulders at the region’s dismal offering to investors. Times are tough. In Iraq, foreign oil companies are pushing back against fierce cost-cutting measures imposed by the Baghdad government. In the UAE, the state oil company has failed to renew large onshore oil concessions two years after they expired. Kuwait’s government wants oil majors to help develop northern fields, but IOC appetite for technically challenging and pricey developments is lukewarm – and Kuwait’s record of delivering projects hardly fires it up. Qatar has laid out some tou