"And it's one, two, three, what are we dying for?"

[SHRED]

Where is the "librul media"?
Why isn't this lead news on TV?


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Future of Iraq: The spoils of war
How the West will make a killing on Iraqi oil riches
By Danny Fortson, Andrew Murray-Watson and Tim Webb
Published: 07 January 2007

Iraq's massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies under a controversial law which is expected to come before the Iraqi parliament within days.

The US government has been involved in drawing up the law, a draft of which has been seen by The Independent on Sunday. It would give big oil companies such as BP, Shell and Exxon 30-year contracts to extract Iraqi crude and allow the first large-scale operation of foreign oil interests in the country since the industry was nationalised in 1972.

The huge potential prizes for Western firms will give ammunition to critics who say the Iraq war was fought for oil. They point to statements such as one from Vice-President Dick Cheney, who said in 1999, while he was still chief executive of the oil services company Halliburton, that the world would need an additional 50 million barrels of oil a day by 2010. "So where is the oil going to come from?... The Middle East, with two-thirds of the world's oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies," he said.

Oil industry executives and analysts say the law, which would permit Western companies to pocket up to three-quarters of profits in the early years, is the only way to get Iraq's oil industry back on its feet after years of sanctions, war and loss of expertise. But it will operate through "production-sharing agreements" (or PSAs) which are highly unusual in the Middle East, where the oil industry in Saudi Arabia and Iran, the world's two largest producers, is state controlled.

MORE:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2132569.ece


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[QueenOfCalifornia]

1. Haaaa! You're kidding, right?

Shred asked:
Where is the "librul media"?
Why isn't this lead news on TV?

The librul media is a myth... (of course you knew that already) and the reason it's not being reported by MM is due to the fact that they are all a bunch of Bush-ass-kissers who tremble in fear that the reich-wing spin machine will mangle them beneath their steel-toed-naziesque jack boots.


...at least that's what I think.

[Gabi Hayes]

2. naahhh. they aren't afraid of the jackboots.

they're afraid of losing their cushy jobs, with all the perks they entail

that's all it is

[TahitiNut]

3. The word is "entitlements."

A title is a legal fiction, whether it be title to land, title to oil, or a title such as 'Baron' or 'Duke.' Such entitlements are established by a government and enforced by their police and military powers. The global energy corporations oppose the nationalization of such natural resources and insist on 'permanent' entitlements that serve their profiteering interests.

[stubtoe]

4. The Iraqi govt's present instability leaves them unable to negotiate a good deal

From the same article:

"Greg Muttitt, a researcher for Platform, a human rights and environmental group which monitors the oil industry, said Iraq was being asked to pay an enormous price over the next 30 years for its present instability. "They would lose out massively," he said, "because they don't have the capacity at the moment to strike a good deal."

So much for the "spread of democracy" excuse.

[stubtoe]

5. Here's a related article: Iraq poised to end drought for thirsting oil giants

"The Iraqi Council of Ministers is expected to approve, as early as today, a controversial new hydrocarbon law, heavily pushed by the US and UK governments, that will radically redraw the Iraqi oil industry and throw open the doors to the third-largest oil reserves in the world. It would allow the first large-scale operation of foreign oil companies in the country since the industry was nationalised in 1972."

Article:
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2132467.ece

Thanks for finding this, SHRED.

K&R