Iraq oil law stalled, no end to impasse in sight

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A law that could shape Iraq's future by clearing the way for investment in its oil fields is deadlocked by a battle for control of the reserves and no end to the impasse is in sight, lawmakers and officials say.

The bill is also meant to share revenue equitably from the world's third largest oil reserves, thus helping bridge the deep divides between Iraq's Shi'ites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.

The one thing all sides agree on is the law is vital to securing foreign investment to boost Iraq's oil output and rebuild its shattered economy after five years of insurgency and sectarian fighting that has killed tens of thousands of people.

But the law remains stalled by bitter rows between Baghdad and the largely autonomous Kurdistan region in the north over who will control the fields and how revenue will be shared.

"Basically we're talking about political will here," said a U.S. official in Baghdad, who asked not to be identified.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080218/wl_nm/iraq_oil_law_dc

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Over 70 firms bid for Iraq oil contracts
Mon Feb 18, 2008 1:45 PM GMT

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than 70 international firms have registered to compete for tenders to help develop Iraq's oil reserves, seen as vital to providing the funds to rebuild the shattered country, Iraq's oil ministry said on Monday.

Iraq currently produces only a fraction of its vast reserves, the third-largest in the world and among the cheapest to produce, and international oil firms have been positioning for years to gain access.

Big oil firms such as Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Repsol YPF, ConocoPhillips, BP, and Norway's StatoilHydro are among firms that have said they have registered or intended to do so.


"We are going to carefully study and check the documentation. Next month we will declare the companies which are permitted to work in the Iraqi oilfields," Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad told Reuters.

Iraq produces about 2.3 million barrels of oil a day, dwarfed by its 115 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves. Only those of Saudi Arabia and Iran are larger.

more:http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2008-02-18T134519Z_01_L18514153_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ-OIL.xml


Kurds Mull Case Vs Iraqi Oil Min Over Opposition To Oil Deals

AMMAN -(Dow Jones)- The Kurdish semiautonomous rule is considering filing a case at Iraq's constitutional court against the federal Oil Minister Hussein al- Shahristani for opposing oil deals signed by the Kurds with foreign companies, the Kurdish government said in its Web site Monday.

"Head of Kurdistan region Massoud al-Barzani had said that he would perhaps file a complaint against al-Shahristani," it said.

Kurdish authorities have signed more than a dozen contracts with foreign companies to develop oil and gas fields in their region. Al-Shahristani has in recent weeks angrily denounced the Kurdish authorities for signing the contracts before the national parliament approves a new oil and gas law, declaring them " illegal" and saying foreign companies who signed these deals would be blacklisted by the Baghdad government.

"The Iraqi oil minister Hussein al-Shahristani is taking a hostile stance against these contracts," Barzani was quoted as saying.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry has decided to stop cooperation with foreign companies which have signed contracts with the Kurds.

more:http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080218%5cACQDJON200802180715DOWJONESDJONLINE000172.htm&

[ixion]

1. more bogus spin from AP...

the AP used to be one of the most respected agencies around. Now I consider them wholly corrupted. It fails to mention that the bill the US has been trying to push through essentially robs the Iraqis of one of their only resources, and is really nothing more than a license to steal for Shell, Exxon, etc.

But hey, why bother with REAL journalism when you can just parrot the WH press release.

[Afje]

4. No kidden - "the law is vital to securing

foreign investments to boost Iraq's oil output and rebuild its shatterd economy after five years of insurgency and sectarian fighting" - as if that had nothing to do with our occupation of Iraq. Create the problem (shatter economy) and then take over. Just the disaster capitalism that Naomi Klein talks about.

[Supersedeas]

10. real journalism requires integrity and nose to the document hard work--surfaces is all we get now

[merh]

2. That is not why it is stalled.

It is stalled because it is a bill that would take away from the Iraqi people and give profits on top of expenses to the US & GB oil corps and provide for 50 year leases, which would mean the US presence for 50 years (to protect the US interests, of course).

Parliament has been against the hydrocarbon law since it was proposed by the PM and his cabinet. In June of last year parliament passed a binding resolution asking that the UN not renew the "mandate of US occupation", that legislation has been ignored by the US and the UN.

They don't want us there forever and they don't want to give up the profits to the oil which belong to the Iraqi people.

They factions in the Iraqi parliament are united on those points, they are united in opposing the hydrocarbon law, to say otherwise is a blatant lie.

[gratuitous]

3. So there's a "battle for control" of Iraq's oil

Who's controlling it now? How much oil is being pumped in Iraq? Who's shipping it? Where is it being shipped to? Who is paying for it (are they paying for it)? And who is receiving payments for that oil?

Well, never mind all those nit-picky questions; focus instead on the stalled Iraq oil law. That's where all the action is.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Good

and I hope it remains so.

[truth2power]

6. I agree. It's time Americans stopped stealing what doesn't belong to them. n/t

[dipsydoodle]

7. The licences would only provide

something like one dollar / barrel to Iraq. No wonder the USA keeps pushing for the laws to be passed.

[merh]

9. And 50 year leases.

That's why parliament continues to go on breaks. Their legislation is ignore, they pass just enough to make their positions clear and then they refuse to consider the junk hydrocarbon legislation and they go on vacation.

Can't blame them one bit.

[Baby Snooks]

8. But it's "our" oil

The attitude of many Americans is that it is "our" oil since "we" build the infrastructure so to speak. What many Americans do not realize that it is the oil companies who believe it is "their" oil and ever since the American and British oil companies originally developed the fields in the Middle East, from northern Africa to Iran, they have always managed to literally rape the people whose oil it really is. But they have literally raped everyone. Including us. And what really is "our" oil.

Saudi Arabia of course developed its own fields and of course has interests now in many of these "multi-national" companies. None of these companies are really American or British anymore. They are all "multi-national" companies that are "multi-national" simply to avoid taxation. Saudi Arabia stands alone. It owns its own foreign interests so to speak. And anyone who doesn't believe that needs to research it.

Given the opportunity, the Bush Boys would invade and occupy Saudi Arabia and attempt to "liberate" their oil as well. And the Saudis probably know it. Which may explain why we are both friends and enemies of the Saudis. And why the Saudis were probably involved in 9/11 although we will never know how much. They are beyond reproach and above the law. If they were to cut us off, the Western world at the moment would be in big trouble simply because other nations might join them.

Iraq was all about the oil. Just as Iran was all about the oil. And 9/11 was also about the oil.

Iran is a good example of what may happen in Iraq. We have created our own enemies. For oil. That we will never get. And may at some point be cut off from.

One thing is for sure. The Iraqi people will not abide by another "deal" with foreign interest to enrich themselves off the oil that belongs to the Iraqi people. It is time someone finally refused to abide by these deals. And just said no. But the pressure will be there. From the Saudis. Because their interests are served by the "multi-nationals." Becuase the "multi-nationals" serve their interests. They win no matter who loses in this. A harsh reality.

Exxon-Mobil and Shell and everyone else would continue to supply us with oil during a boycott by buying it through "subsidiaries" and supplying it to us at an enormous profit. And the Saudis would laugh all the way to the bank. As would Exxon-Mobil and Shell and everyone else.

Apart from anything else to be considered, we are headed for depletion simply because of the increasing demand worldwide. And so we are headed for oil wars. Which no one will win. Except for Exxon-Mobil and Shell and everyone else. And the Saudis.

We should all learn from the example of Brazil. And move towards biofuels as well as mass transit and conservation. But the American people love their Hummers and their pickup trucks. And just fall back on the "there's plenty of oil and it's our oil" delusion that there will always be oil and the belief that "it's just the liberals who are just communists who are letting other countries take our oil."

Some of the liberals love their Hummers and their pickup trucks as well. There may always be oil. At $150, then $200, then $250 a barrel. Eventually $500 a barrel.

The modern version of "Let them eat cake" may prove to be "Let them walk."