Oil majors forced to accept tough terms

ROME (Reuters) – From Iraq to Ecuador, international oil companies have swallowed their pride and agreed to contract terms they would have walked away from a few years ago.

Oil prices have risen more than five-fold since 2002, emboldening OPEC and non-OPEC energy producers alike to demand a greater share of record revenues and tighten national oil company (NOC) control over the world’s biggest reserves.

U.S. crude has hit a new record at $117 a barrel.

“Producers are becoming more assertive in dictating terms, forcing companies to contemplate contracts that in the past they would have preferred not to take on,” said Julian Lee, senior energy analyst at London’s Centre for Global Energy Studies. “It’s a standard reaction from oil producers to high oil prices.”

Reuters