Sunni clerics group attacks Iraq's draft oil law

[maddezmom]

Sunni clerics group attacks Iraq's draft oil law
06 Mar 2007 14:31:47 GMT
Source: Reuters

Background
• Iraq in turmoil


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BAGHDAD, March 6 (Reuters) - An influential Sunni Arab group criticised Iraq's long awaited oil investment law on Tuesday, accusing the United States and Britain of invading the country out of greed for its vast oil wealth.

Iraq's cabinet agreed a draft of the law last month after months of wrangling, sending it to parliament for final approval.

The law sets out how oil revenues will be divided among the population and regulates how foreign companies will be able to invest in exploration and production.

Iraqi and U.S. officials have said the law will be a crucial ingredient for Iraqi reconciliation. It states that oil revenues will be spread evenly according to population around the country rather than staying in the region where the oil is found.

Sunni Arabs have long feared that Shi'ites and ethnic Kurds, who sit on top of Iraq's vast oil fields, will not share the country's wealth in an even way.

The Muslim Scholars Association, a leading Sunni clerics group accused by the Iraqi government of fomenting violence, said the law as drafted was "invalid and lacks legitimacy".

more:http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR649745.htm

[Supersedeas]

1. not peep to be mentioned about this from Infotainment Marketeers beholden to Oil Advertising $$$$

[sarcasmo]

2. Can't argue with him for speaking the truth.

"accusing the United States and Britain of invading the country out of greed for its vast oil wealth"

[maddezmom]

3. Iraqi Parliament fails to reconvene

In Baghdad, parliament failed to reconvene as scheduled after only about two dozen of the 275 lawmakers showed up. Political leaders claim that talks between various parties kept the deputies away.

But it was seen as another sign of political stagnation when key issues are facing the parliament, including a proposed law to divide Iraq's oil revenue among its three main groups: Sunnis, Shiites and the northern Kurds.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/07/ap/world/main2541880.shtml

[Javaman]

4. This was decided long ago by mr. asshole bremer.

just one more example of his "great" leadership abilities.

[donkeyotay]

5. How do you ask a few thousand men to be the last to die for a contract?

Commentary by Chris Floyd in the Baltimore Chronicle and Sentinel
New Oil Law Means Victory in Iraq for Bush

At any time within the next few days, the Iraqi Council of Ministers is expected to approve a new "hydrocarbon law" essentially drawn up by the Bush administration and its UK lackey, the Independent on Sunday reported. The new bill will "radically redraw the Iraqi oil industry and throw open the doors to the third-largest oil reserves in the world," says the paper, whose reporters have seen a draft of the new law. "It would allow the first large-scale operation of foreign oil companies in the country since the industry was nationalized in 1972." If the government's parliamentary majority prevails, the law should take effect in March.

The law will give Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell and other carbon cronies of the White House unprecedented sweetheart deals, allowing them to pump gargantuan profits from Iraq's nominally state-owned oilfields for decades to come.As the paper notes, the law will give Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell and other carbon cronies of the White House unprecedented sweetheart deals, allowing them to pump gargantuan profits from Iraq's nominally state-owned oilfields for decades to come.

http://baltimorechronicle.com/2007/010907Floyd.shtml

The plan, which was developed by the US State Department's Future of Iraq Project, and supported by key figures in the Iraqi Oil Ministry, is to use highly complex contracts known as production sharing agreements (PSA's) , which have existed in the oil industry since the late 1960s.

PSA's are an ingenious arrangement that leaves intact state ownership of the untapped oil, while inverting the flow of payments between the state and companies. Whereas in a concession system, foreign companies have rights to the oil in the ground, and compensate host states for extracting their resources (e.g. via royalties or taxes), under a PSA foreign companies are compensated for their investment in oil production infrastructure and the risks they take in extracting the oil. Under PSA's, the private companies will continue to operate as "contractors" -- a label that is misleading because it gives companies control over oil development and access to extensive profits.

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article15.html

Commentary by David R Francis, CSMonitor, March 5, 2007
Why Iraq's new oil law won't last

The legislation will be extremely controversial. Opposition is expected from the powerful Oil Workers Union of Basra. It staged strikes in 2005 objecting to America's plan to privatize Iraq's oil industry. A reviving Communist Party will oppose it. Much of the Iraqi press also objects to aspects of the law. . . .

Alhajji notes that contracts signed "under duress" are not legally binding. After Iran nationalized its oil industry in the 1950s, British lawyers for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (now British Petroleum) contested the action in the International Court in the Hague and lost, despite Britain's superpower status then. (bolding added)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0305/p17s01-cogn.html