Weaving the silk pipeline

Since the American engagement in Iraq was downsized, other countries have continued to gain higher profiles there, and Iraq’s economic allegiances — and its resources — are being wooed by powers whose interests are in competition with those of the United States. Nothing demonstrates this change more dramatically than the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) acquisition of US oil giant ExxonMobil’s position in the West Qurna Phase 1 oilfield for $50 billion, one of the largest such energy deals ever made. Beijing had become a big player in Iraq’s oil sector even before this transaction was announced in early February. CNPC, at the beginning of 2013, was jointly operating three fields producing 1.4 million barrels per day (b/d), more than half the country’s output. However, acquiring the new stake means that CNPC alone will soon account for 50 percent of Iraq’s crude production. Beijing’s takeover of the Exxon concession