THE besuited band of executives from an international oil company had expected a different reception when they arrived in Baghdad to sign a deal with senior government officials to develop one of the world's largest untapped oilfields. Instead of being whisked through the airport, they were held for several hours by immigration officers who thought them “suspicious”. Eventually they were let go. But plenty of others have to wait even longer.

Iraq's bloody-minded and inefficient bureaucracy is one of several problems oil majors face. Many are still hopeful about the country's prospects, but the euphoria of last year, when the government started auctioning large fields, has given way to caution. Increasing Iraqi oil production from 2.5m barrels a day to 12m, a quarter more than Saudi Arabia pumps now, will take more than the six to seven years that the government projects, not least because of Iraq's continuing political violence.

In the past six months the oil infrastructure has become a focus for insurgent attacks. Pipelines are a favourite, as are refineries and oil-ministry offices. In response, a special police force that guards vital oil installations has been beefed up. That may not be enough, given the sector's vast expansion. Police in the oil region around Basra have found weapons that were meant to be used to attack foreign companies. Papers found with the arms named specific targets, many of them British.

Insurgents are not the only unfriendly locals. Trade-union leaders have called for strikes over oilfield wages. And tribal associations are making big demands for compensation (one asking for $1 a barrel), on the ground that they have lost ancestral land to towering rigs. Iraq's oil-rich marshes near the border with Iran are a particular flashpoint. Worried about meeting its production targets, the government has harassed its most vocal oilfield opponents and threatened to send in the army. Such conflicts, though limited so far, could quickly get out of control once the foreign-run fields start producing next year.

There is opposition to foreign oil companies in Baghdad too, especially in parliament. Several MPs, along with a former head of Iraq's largest state oil company and Iyad Allawi, a potential future prime minister, have said recent oil deals should be reconsidered. Lawsuits financed by the oil companies' critics are wending their way through the courts. An exasperated oil-ministry spokesman has asked party leaders “not to throw the oil sector into the middle of their political struggles”.

Logistics are the oil men's most immediate problem. Importing vast amounts of equipment has swamped Iraq's tiny port at Umm Qasr. Expansion will take years and could be complicated by the port's proximity to territorial waters disputed by Iran. Security is bad too. Umm Qasr is a haven for Iraq's smugglers, so many companies are loth to store expensive equipment there; they may never see it again. Neighbouring Kuwait has talked of building a new border post in the desert so that companies can bypass the port and bring in rigs on vehicles, but it has set no date.

Meanwhile, many oilfields remain infested with landmines from wars fought by Saddam Hussein. Hundreds of specialists are needed to clear them. The Rumaila field, contracted to BP and China National Petroleum Corporation, includes an area ten miles long studded with mines. They may prove easier to extract than the oil.