Oil giants are itching to invade Iraq

The big players have been shut out since nationalisation in 1972. Now they see their chance to get in

THE residents of Shiwashok, a dusty village sprouting from the hard-scrabble landscape of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, have simple desires: drinking water; fuel for the electricity generator; a toilet for the primary school.

Sadi, the village chief, rattled off the wish list to Pradeep Kabra, an executive from Addax Petroleum who had flown in from Geneva to check on progress at the company