Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back - mission really accomplished

[spanone]

BAGHDAD — Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.

Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil company officials and an American diplomat.

The deals, expected to be announced on June 30, lay the foundation for the first commercial work for the major companies in Iraq since the American invasion, and open a new and potentially lucrative country for their operations.

The no-bid contracts are unusual for the industry, and the offers prevailed over others by more than 40 companies, including companies in Russia, China and India. The contracts, which would run for one to two years and are relatively small by industry standards, would nonetheless give the companies an advantage in bidding on future contracts in a country that many experts consider to be the best hope for a large-scale increase in oil production.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/world/middleeast/19iraq.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

[babylonsister]

1. Maybe this is what this admin has been waiting for. What happened

to the Iraqis who saw through this plan and were against it? Hmmm.

[Sal Minella]

4. Yes....has anyone seen them around lately???

[merh]

2. Though not the benchmark that the admin originally wanted

(50 year leases), this is the benchmark that was the reason for the war and why we have remained as the occupier.

[fencesitter]

3. How are they gonna spin this one?

"Sensitive to the appearance that they were profiting from the war and already under pressure because of record high oil prices, senior officials of two of the companies, speaking only on the condition that they not be identified, said they were helping Iraq rebuild its decrepit oil industry.

For an industry being frozen out of new ventures in the world’s dominant oil-producing countries, from Russia to Venezuela, Iraq offers a rare and prized opportunity"

uh huh.

[spanone]

5. the media will probably give it little attention...we'll see

[kenny blankenship]

8. If they give it attention it will be to PRAISE the Iraqis for 'coming to their senses'

and finally "embracing the Free Market". Freedom is surely on the march again! See how generously we welcome the return of the Prodigal Son back into the Neoliberal bosom? We will even congratulate them on their newfound "wisdom": ...the Iraqi people have always been a shrewd trading people, Ted, and so it was inevitable that once they got their freedom back again they would see quickly what a good deal we were offering them and act on it. They have a great resource to market to the world; but of course they understand that they'll be needing a business partner, a senior party, more experienced and wiser than they, or maybe even a consortium of partners, who can guide them through the markets and look out for their interests...for a modest percentage."

[Sal Minella]

6. Darth: "The Middle East, with two-thirds of the world's oil and the lowest cost, is still where

the prize ultimately lies." ... Dick Cheney, CEO of Halliburton, autumn 1999

http://www.antiwar.com/mcgovern/?articleid=11626

[DerekJ]

7. hmmm... If the army withdrew within 2 years, who will protect those oil companies? According to

my understanding, a significant part of the U.S army is being utilized as bodyguards for the oil industry there, and there are daily attacks on pipelines, trucks, or anything moving carrying oil.

What are they going to do in couple of years when the bodyguards are gone?

[BeHereNow]

9. He who controls the supply, controls the price.

And that is exactly what is happening in Colombia.
They are very busy beavers there too, but unlike
Iraq, the government has been complicit, therefore
no need to invade.
Yet.

BHN

Edited to add- Look out, Iran.

[stillcool]

10. Since they haven't been able to...

pass an oil law, it seems this is the next best thing. I can't imagine that this will go over to big with the Iraqi's. Probably lots more..:nuke:

“These are not actually service contracts,” Ms. Benali said. “They were designed to circumvent the legislative stalemate” and bring Western companies with experience managing large projects into Iraq before the passage of the oil law.