U.S. prepares for Iraq oil windfall.

[Dammit Ann]

Oil, oil, oil. It's ALL about the OIL!


http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=1324§ionid=3510304



>snip<

Under the guise of giving partial autonomy to sign oil deals to Iraq's regional entities and at the same time preventing a federal break-up, profits from the sale of Iraqi oil have been secured for the big foreign investors who are going to "rebuild" Iraq's oil industry. The key to this is the use of production sharing agreements (PSAs).

PSAs are an ingenious legal measure developed by foreign companies in the late 1960s after oil-rich countries began to rebel against their imperial overlords. They are a means of securing the right to oil profits while leaving the actual ownership of the oil in the hands of the state. PSAs stipulate that oil revenue will first go to the private company who invested to cover expenses and exploration costs. These days, such deals are only made when the oil is hard to reach or expensive to pump. The International Energy Agency say PSAs apply to only 12% of world oil reserves.

Needless to say, contracts based on PSAs are now just as unpopular as in host countries as the colonial concessions they originally replaced. Russia and Venezuela are renegotiating all of theirs. Bolivia has nationalized its gas. Algeria and Indonesia have established rules governing future oil contracts that preclude their use. No Middle East oil producer works under PSAs.

Thus, the idea of Iraq - which conservative estimates rank as the country with the third-largest oil reserves in the world - being subject to PSAs represents an astounding coup for foreign oil companies and a humiliation for Iraq. According to a report by the oil industry pressure group PLATFORM, PSA-style contracts will guarantee 42% to 162% rates of return for the drilling company for periods of between 25-40 years. And this is not even taking into consideration that whoever controls Iraq - not subject to OPEC quotas since 1998 - will have significant sway over world prices.

It is revealing to note at this point that some of the major players helping the Iraqis to frame this deal were the IMF, representatives of all the major oil companies and, current president of the World Bank and Bush doctrine architect, Paul Wolfowitz.

Foreign experts are already raising the alarm bells. "Iraqis are extremely protective of their resources," said Rochdi A. Younsi, an analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting firm. "Given the level of anti-American sentiment, any major American oil company perceived to take advantage of their relations in government would be seen as being part of the so-called conspiracy to take over Iraq's natural resources."

More at link....


So, the shrub sends them more to kill, just in time.

====================================
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[izzie]

1. After about 90 years of this type business you would think this

That these people would just lie down and let the West walk all over them. This seems to be what bin Larden in talking about. Looks like the big money people will not pay but we people will and all for profits. We of course will need bases to keep these companies safe.Imperialism at its best.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. It was all about the oil.

And, because oil is not nationalized in this country, it was all about putting the lives of our American soldiers in danger, so that a multi-national oil corporation could get their hands on a contract. A contract which will only be executable, as long as that multi-national corp. has an army to defend that right.

What the hell were the Bushies thinking?

[Demeter]

3. Greed. Oil. PRofiteering. Might Makes Right. Etc

All the usual death-instigating right-wing claptrap.

[Usrename]

4. Try and discuss this issue with anyone from the right-wing.

It is astounding how brain-washed they are. They scream and shriek about the war not having anything to do with oil.

For proof they argue that gas prices have gone up, and that prices would go down if the U.S. were to get a lot of cheap oil. As if they would share their windfall with the public after going to such trouble to steal it.

It is just amazing how brainwashed 29% of the people are.

[OneBlueSky]

5. good luck protecting the pipelines . . . n/t

.

[bemildred]

7. They will never get around to "rebuilding" the infrastructure, again.

PSA or no.

[unhappycamper]

6. dammitann:

Please be aware that DU copyright rules require that excerpts of copyrighted material be limited to four or five paragraphs and must include a link to the original source.

In the future, please insure your posts adhere to this standard.

Thanks in advance,

unhappycamper
DU Moderator