Bush is confident Iraq won't nationalize its oil sector & instead, will open it up to US companies

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/20453.html

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 President Bush is confident Iraq won't nationalize its oil sector and, instead, will open it up to investors, including U.S. oil companies.

White House Spokesman Tony Snow said Friday that when the dust clears in the fight over Iraq's new oil law, it will look more like Alaska than the oil sectors of Saudi Arabia.

It's no more a nationalized oil industry than the hydrocarbon law in Alaska makes Alaska a fiefdom of petro-socialism, Snow said, gulfoilandgas.com reports. Alaska has state control over oil and natural gas, which supports nearly its entire budget, and gives its citizen annual payments from the hydrocarbon take.

Iraq's oil and gas future isn't known. It has the world's third largest reserves at 115 billion barrels. Political wrangling over an oil law governing all new oil deals is ongoing.

Despite the fact parliament hasn't seen a final version, let alone approved it, the Bush administration hand is evident.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. What is the total per annum world consumption of oil?

Anybody got that number handy?

[State the Obvious]

2. Now, that's the REAL reason for the "surge".

The troops will be there to protect Bush's oil interests.

[cassiepriam]

3. Bingo. Follow the money trail, it always tells the tale for the repugs.

[shadowknows69]

4. Easy to be confident of that

When you hvae Luka Brazzi explaining that either Malakai's signature or brains are going to be on the contract.

[shadowknows69]

5. oops

n/t

[Auggie]

6. Are you kidding?! That's what they'll do at first chance.

[Strelnikov_]

7. Deluded

http://www.energybulletin.net/24759.html

First, there was the notion that a soon-to-be-adopted Iraqi law designed to open the country's oilfields to foreign companies will somehow lead to a flood of foreign investment. A more measured evaluation of the prospects for such investment was published in The Independent. In fact, it's hard to see how anyone could currently operate an oil exploration program inside Iraq safely.

Even after the Iraq civil war ends--and it will end someday though that day is probably many years away--the government which controls Iraq may not be the one now in charge or may, in fact, turn out to be three governments controlling a partitioned Iraq. Even if a unified Iraq survives, what would prevent it from changing the laws governing oil production, revoking existing contracts or simply renationalizing the oil industry? An Iraq at peace may find itself capable of doing any of these with the broad support of its people. Certainly, some will say that a continued U. S. military presence in Iraq would cow the country into honoring any agreements made under the law. But who now believes, given emerging political and ongoing fiscal realities in the United States, that the U. S. military will remain in Iraq to the conclusion of the civil war and for many years after that?

To top it off there is the specious claim that Iraq has 115 billion barrels of oil waiting to be drained from the ground. Only a few people have bothered to look beneath the surface of this claim to find the reality. In the 1980s OPEC, of which Iraq was a member, was contemplating linking production quotas to reserves. Some OPEC members reported miraculous reserve increases without any equally miraculous exploration efforts. Between 1987 and 1988 Iraq's reserves jumped from 47 billion barrels to 100 billion barrels. Such reserves are now euphemistically referred to as "political reserves."

The second delusion of the week was that President Bush's plan to add 20,000 U. S. soldiers to forces already in Iraq would somehow bring stability to the country. Not many people were buying this delusion including many U. S. senators of both parties. When then army chief Gen. Eric Shinseki predicted before the war that several hundred thousand soldiers would be needed to pacify Iraq, he was pilloried by the Bush Administration. But, that number is probably closer to what it would take to do the job. Even if the American public and the Congress had the stomach for such a huge new deployment, as a practical matter it is impossible. The U. S. military is having trouble maintaining the force levels it has already deployed.

[The Wielding Truth]

8. Yes.The real reason we attacked and still remain occupying Iraq.

The reason why the lack of WMD's,impossible installation of democracy,retreat from osama's capture,the need for Saddam's death, few,if any al-Qaida cells disrupted, and the use of all intelligence resources under * command has not ended the chaos.

Who will own the oil? The only real question.

Embedding their interests by the construction of huge embassy unpublicized in the desert of Iraq now points to who will fight to keep it.

Shame is, that had we had the choice,I think we would have found an alternative source of energy.

[Disturbed]

9. $500 Billion might have gone to Alt. Energy.

It may have been better spent than on killing people.

[KoKo]

10. This is all I can say to what your post reports...........

:banghead:

[MN ChimpH8R]

11. This was action item two on Darth's

Energy Task Force Agenda. Ain't no bout adoubt it. Invading Iraq for this reason was Number One.