My Friends, We were right. It IS all about OIL....

[Laura PourMeADrink]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2132574.ece

Blood and oil: How the West will profit from Iraq's most precious commodity

The 'IoS' today reveals a draft for a new law that would give Western oil companies a massive share in the third largest reserves in the world. To the victors, the oil? That is how some experts view this unprecedented arrangement with a major Middle East oil producer that guarantees investors huge profits for the next 30 years

Published: 07 January 2007
So was this what the Iraq war was fought for, after all? As the number of US soldiers killed since the invasion rises past the 3,000 mark, and President George Bush gambles on sending in up to 30,000 more troops, The Independent on Sunday has learnt that the Iraqi government is about to push through a law giving Western oil companies the right to exploit the country's massive oil reserves.

And Iraq's oil reserves, the third largest in the world, with an estimated 115 billion barrels waiting to be extracted, are a prize worth having. As Vice-President Dick Cheney noted in 1999, when he was still running Halliburton, an oil services company, the Middle East is the key to preventing the world running out of oil.

Now, unnoticed by most amid the furore over civil war in Iraq and the hanging of Saddam Hussein, the new oil law has quietly been going through several drafts, and is now on the point of being presented to the cabinet and then the parliament in Baghdad. Its provisions are a radical departure from the norm for developing countries: under a system known as "production-sharing agreements", or PSAs, oil majors such as BP and Shell in Britain, and Exxon and Chevron in the US, would be able to sign deals of up to 30 years to extract Iraq's oil.

PSAs allow a country to retain legal ownership of its oil, but gives a share of profits to the international companies that invest in infrastructure and operation of the wells, pipelines and refineries. Their introduction would be a first for a major Middle Eastern oil producer. Saudi Arabia and Iran, the world's number one and two oil exporters, both tightly control their industries through state-owned companies with no appreciable foreign collaboration, as do most members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Opec.

more...

[Fridays Child]

1. Bookmarkiing to read, later.

[Cobalt-60]

2. This is COLONIALISM

and it won't be lost on the Arabs.
They'll never stop attacking now.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

4. Yes. You know, with all the turmoil since the invasion, it provided

quite a diversion to hide the fact that this occurred:

Cheney's Steps
1. Meet w/ US Oil Companies
2. Plan the ultimate takeover - divide the prize
3. Fake a war
4. Perpetuate confusion
5. Take the spoils

[soothsayer]

3. Pretty sure Iraq is giving away 75% of its profits, and keeping only

25% for the Iraqi people. Who the hell signs away 75% of their profits? A puppet does!

[atommom]

5. Just confirms what we already suspected.

Who can blame the Iraqis for resenting us?

[lectrobyte]

6. It's an interesting article, thanks. Wonder what Dick Cheney would

make of Peak Oil, since we may have it in '06 depending on whose numbers one believes.

[fasttense]

7. Now tell me again about that American Dream

where hard work and following the rules will make you rich? Seems these oil companies didn't follow the rules or work hard. Must be nice to own the president.

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. the Middle East is the key to preventing the world running out of oil.

????????????????

The only way to prevent the world running out of oil is to stop using it. Whether it is owned by Iraq or by Exxon, IT WILL RUN OUT.

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Do you really think that there won't be a national backlash, probably

manned by the lower and middle class Americans, against Bush and the oil companies for the deceit, under-handed scheming, treachery and treason against the American public? Think about how stupid the Republican voter will feel when we remind them how they waved the flag and hid behind the crucifix to help Bush sell his war.

For a preview, how do you suppose the Christian Right feel about being manipulated by Ralph Reed? Multiply that by hundreds of thousands.