Questions and answers on Iraqii oil ownership

[Judi Lynn]

IRAQ
Oil

Updated: September 2, 2003

(snip) Who controls Iraqi oil?
The United States and Britain have some rights to use the oil to fund their occupation, international lawyers say, but Iraq's oil legally belongs to the Iraqi people. Long-term plans to develop or privatize Iraqi oil fields would have shaky legal justifications under an occupation government. Many experts say an internationally recognized Iraqi government should be in place before such decisions are made.

Who is actually making decisions for the Iraqi oil industry?
Many industry experts say they believe day-to-day decisions in recent months have mainly been made by Iraqis; in particular, by Iraqi Interim Oil Minister Thamir al-Ghadhban and authorities at the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), the state-run monopoly that controlled Iraqi oil exports under Saddam Hussein’s government. But the occupation government has the power to veto Iraqi oil plans, and decisions have presumably been made in cooperation with U.S. officials. Philip Carroll, the former president and chief executive officer of Shell Oil, has been serving as an adviser to the Iraqi oil ministry.

Is Ghadhban still the oil minister?
No. On September 1, the Iraqi Governing Council removed Ghadhban, an oil ministry technocrat under Saddam’s regime, and replaced him with Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum. Uloum is a little-known, London-educated petroleum engineer who has never worked in the Iraqi oil industry. He is also the son of a prominent Shiite cleric who, until recently, sat on the Governing Council. It is unclear how his appointment, designed to place a Shiite in control of the oil ministry, will affect policy. His father, Sayyed Muhammed Bahr al-Uloum, 80, suspended his membership on the Council after the August 29 Najaf bombing that killed one of Iraq’s leading Shiite clerics, Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim.

What international law governs issues surrounding Iraqi oil?
International humanitarian law (IHL), the same branch of law that defines the rules of war and describes the obligations of occupying powers. The issue of using an occupied nation’s natural resources is addressed specifically in the 1907 Hague Regulations and in the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention. In addition, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483, approved in May 2003, recognized the U.S. and British-led occupation and set out specific regulations regarding Iraqi oil sales. (snip/...)

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On edit: Sorry, I meant to post this in Editorials and Other Articles. (Too late at night to be alert, in my case, it seems.)

[sandnsea]

1. Very good article, thanks

"Oil for Food is continuing to spend down the approximately $10 billion in its accounts from before the start of the war. Purchases are focusing on food and other emergency items for Iraqi people. After November 21, 2003, the program will be closed completely, and any leftover funds will pass to the coalition-managed Development Fund for Iraq."

I wondered where the other $4 billion a month was going.

"Even if oil production meets the coalition’s most optimistic projections of $14 billion in 2004, that still falls far short of the overall reconstruction price tag, estimated by Bremer to be up to $100 billion."

I don't think that includes military expenditures. This thing is going to cost ALOT.

[cthrumatrix]

2. I would love to know this....who owns what and how...we will never know

the truth of the scum invloved.