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to develop a huge oil field in the Middle Eastern country, corporate
officials said Tuesday. Talks between Baghdad and three Japanese
oil developers 'are in progress toward an agreement' to develop the
Nasiriyah oil field in southern Iraq, a spokesman for Nippon Oil
Corp, one of the three energy firms, said. If the deal is reached,
the Nasiriyah oil field will be the biggest in production volume that
Japanese companies have developed, he said. Trade Minister
Toshihiro Nikai told a news conference Tuesday: 'We'll tackle the
project as a team of the government and the private sector.' 'I
hope for a good result,' the minister said. Japan, the world's
second-largest economy, has few natural resources and is almost
entirely dependent on the Middle East for its oil. The Nasiriyah
field is expected to produce 600, 000 barrels a day, about 10 per cent
of Japan's whole crude consumption, Jiji Press reported. Japan,
officially pacifist since World War II, late last year ended a mission
flying goods and personnel into Iraq on behalf of the US-led
coalition and the United Nations. Former prime minister Junichiro
Koizumi earlier took the landmark step of sending troops to Iraq on a
reconstruction mission, the first time since 1945 Tokyo has sent
forces to a country where fighting was under way. Koizumi ended
the troop mission, which was unpopular among voters, before leaving
office in 2006.
