Oil giant BP reportedly suffered a major explosion on a gas platform in Azerbaijan in September 2008.
Fresh U.S. diplomatic cables released by the website WikiLeaks show the incident resulted in two fields being shut and output being cut by at least 500,000 barrels a day, with production disrupted for months.
Other cables claim Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev accused BP of stealing oil from his country and using "mild blackmail" to win contracts to develop Caspian Sea gas reserves.
Also, Chevron reportedly negotiated with Tehran about developing an Iraq-Iran crossborder oil field despite U.S. sanctions against Iran, according to the cables leaked to Britain's "The Guardian" newspaper.
Source. RFE/RL
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