A US$1.2 billion oil deal between China and Iraq may be coming back to life. Officials plan to met in November to renegotiate an agreement over the al-Ahdab field first discussed with Saddam Hussein's government in 1997, AP reported, quoting Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani. China National Petroleum Corp signed the deal with Hussein in the midst of US sanctions that barred direct dealings with Iraq's oil industry and Beijing was waiting for them to end when the US invaded in 2003. Although western companies were widely touted as being favoured for deals under the new regime, the country's instability is putting many of them off.