Is Iraq ironic?

"People who don't find jobs could become thieves and looters."

Despite the billions it is preparing to commit, this is just a small project for the Chinese company - a pump-primer to build relations with the Iraqi government.

It is actually based on an old deal (a 23-year, $3bn (£1.84bn) deal to exploit the small al-Ahdab field) first signed with the government of Saddam Hussein in the late 1990s, but which never went any further.