BEIJING:

Iraq and China have agreed on the terms of a $3 billion oil service contract, the Iraqi oil minister said Wednesday, announcing his country's first major oil contract with a foreign company since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The oil minister, Hussain al- Shahristani, warned that time was running out for big Western oil companies, which have pressed for years for Iraqi contracts, to seal even short-term deals that had been expected to mark their return to Iraq, which has the world's third-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Dubya must be peed right off, there was no WMD, there was no Al Qaida, Now the black gold is slithering of to China.

The best laid plans of mice and Dubya oft go awry. (that last is the anglicized version, not too many Burns fans here).

Incidentally, just this minute had a call from Scotia McLeod advising me that tomorrow was the last day to tender my shares. I told her that I might put them on the market sometime next October or November, or might not.