It Took 5 Yrs-4,100 US Deaths & Wounding of 30,000-To Make Iraq Safe For Exxon (Derrick Jackson)

[kpete]

Derrick Z. Jackson
Big Oil and the war in Iraq
June 24, 2008

IT TOOK five years, the deaths of 4,100 US soldiers, and the wounding of 30,000 more to make Iraq safe for Exxon. It is the inescapable open question since the reasons given by President Bush for the invasion and occupation did not exist, neither the weapons of mass destruction nor Saddam Hussein's ties to Al Qaeda and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The New York Times reported last week that several Western oil companies, including ExxonMobil, Shell, Total, BP, and Chevron, are about to sign no-bid contracts with the Iraqi government. Western oil had a significant stake in Iraqi oil for much of the last century until the government nationalized the industry in 1972. The Associated Press quoted Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Fadel Gheit as saying he believed the contracts were a first step toward production-sharing agreements. "These companies are in it for the money, not to make friends," Gheit said.

This of course blows a hole in another ancient Bush fallacy, the one in which former Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld said "the oil wells belong to the Iraqi people" and former secretary of State Colin Powell seconded him by saying Iraqi oil "will be held in trust for the Iraqi people." Former Deputy Defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz once claimed there was so much oil in Iraq that "When it comes to reconstruction, before we turn to the American taxpayer, we will turn first to the resources of the Iraqi government."

No, all that is really happening is that while the American taxpayer is being turned inside out by the war, and while families bury the brave, the corporate colonialists get all the resources. Halliburton, the oil services company which Vice President Dick Cheney once led, last year reported a 49 percent rise in profits, to $3.5 billion.

more at:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/06/24/big_oil_and_the_war_in_iraq/

[stillcool]

1. I think it's going to take a little bit longer..

Six More Firms Qualify For Iraq's Oil Contracts

(RTTNews) - The Iraqi oil ministry announced Sunday that six more foreign state-owned oil companies have qualified to bid tenders to develop oil and gas fields in Iraq, Xinhua news agency reported. The new oil firms are from Algeria, Angola, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.

With this, a total of 41 foreign oil firms have so far qualified to participate in Iraq's upcoming licensing round for oil-and-gas contracts. The ministry will soon sign deals with these companies to bid for the contracts in all regions of Iraq.

In April, 35 companies out of the 120 applicants around the world qualified for the tenders in accordance with the terms and conditions stipulated by the Iraqi Oil Ministry in January. The Iraqi oil ministry asked international oil companies to register themselves with the newly set-up Contracts and Licensing Office of the ministry, and set February 18 deadline for receiving registration documentation.

Iraq, holding the world's third-largest oil reserves, needs billions of dollars in investment for a massive overhaul of its oil industry infrastructure and increase oil and gas output after 13 years of sanctions and war.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080623%5cACQRTT200806230630RTTRADERUSEQUITY_0234.htm&&mypage=newsheadlines&title=Six%20More%20Firms%20Qualify%20For%20Iraq's%20Oil%20Contracts

Iraq's controversial oil law


Iraq is pushing ahead with a controversial oil law which critics say threatens to hand over the country's resources to foreign-owned companies, throwing the country into further sectarian chaos.

The Iraqi government is reportedly finalising oil exploratory deals by July even before the law is passed in parliament.


Opponents say the new hydro-carbon law will split Iraq into several federal states, each with control of their own oil resources rather than being dependent on the central government in Baghdad.

However, the al-Maliki government insists the law is a way to share oil wealth among Iraq's regions and religious factions.

They say the law should be enacted quickly in order to pave the way for international oil companies to start investing in the dilapidated and war-hit Iraqi oil sector.
http://english.aljazeera.net/Services/System/?Rq=6)O7AzSe8-5HhL4liAg-6)DlP6t6O-6phkM)=T_-5Hsl2zHaf-4Zony=Zv

Senate Democrats try to block no-bid contracts for Iraq oil
By James Glanz
Published: June 24, 2008

A group of Democratic senators led by Charles Schumer of New York is appealing to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to block a set of contentious no-bid oil contracts that Iraq has decided to award to the Western oil giants Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP.

If that appeal, which Schumer's office said it faxed in the form of a letter to the State Department on Monday, is not heeded, the senators will try to cut off financing for as-yet-unspecified programs in Iraq that are not directly in support of U.S. troops, Schumer said in an interview on Monday.

The other senators include John Kerry of Massachusetts, the former presidential nominee who is a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee; and Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who serves on the Armed Services Committee.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/24/mideast/iraqoil.php