Shell secures 25-year access to Iraq's oil, gas

[kpete]

Source: The Washington Times

Shell secures 25-year access to Iraq's oil, gas
Ben Lando and Alaa Majeed UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Friday, November 7, 2008

EXCLUSIVE:

A joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and Iraq's state-owned South Gas Co. could give Shell a 25-year monopoly on production and exports of natural gas in much of southern Iraq - the biggest foreign role in Iraq's oil and gas sector in four decades.

The planned venture, spelled out in a 16-page document obtained by United Press International, goes well beyond descriptions provided by Iraqi and Shell officials on Sept. 22, when they held a public signing ceremony in Baghdad.

The officials at the time described the agreement as:

• Limited to Basra province.

• Restricted to capturing gas that is burned off and therefore wasted in extracting and processing oil.

• Primarily intended to supply Iraq's domestic market.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/07/shell-acquires-25-year-access-to-natural-gas-in-so/

[Librerin_114]

1. Maybe...

..the government should jump in and start controlling businesses like Gas companies, banks, etc. Because this whole, paying taxes, and then paying MORE taxes to get money from the first taxes back..is kind of like paying to get into the amusement park and then having to pay to go on all the rides too. NOT, FAIR.

Then they could lower taxes because the government would be generating revenue...

although..this could be the opposite of good and threaten free enterprise to a high degree...

thoughts, comments??

[geomon666]

2. The pigs are consuming as much as they can.

Before the inauguration.

[libodem]

3. Farging Bastages

Well, that's what we went in there for. See sig line below.

[defendandprotect]

4. Good..let's build electric cars --- and nationalize oil industry--!!

[pattmarty]

9. Fucking Socialist!!!!!!

:sarcasm:

[defendandprotect]

12. Thanks, I think ---

;)

[Mari333]

5. soldiers died to ensure that oil companies would make billions.

that is all the iraq war was about.

and then they come home to no jobs or healthcare if they survive.

[lelgt60]

6. Uh...this isn't an American company.

From Wikipedia:

Shell is incorporated in the UK with its corporate headquarters in The Hague, its tax residence is in Netherlands, and its primary listings on the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Amsterdam.

I'm not sure what to make of this. Isn't this the Iraqi's giving us the finger?

[Winterblues]

10. Are any Oil companies American anymore?

I think pretty much all of them have moved their offices overseas to avoid American taxes..Very Patriotic of them...

[dipsydoodle]

11. Read it again

The officials at the time described the agreement as:

• Limited to Basra province.

• Restricted to capturing gas that is burned off and therefore wasted in extracting and processing oil.

• Primarily intended to supply Iraq's domestic market.

It's natural gas for the domeatic market - not export.

Aside from that - yes they probably are giving you a well deserved finger.

[tkmorris]

14. That was how it was described at the time of signing

I think that is the point, that they put that description out for public consumption when in fact the agreement gives Shell quite a bit more.

[conspirator]

16. Yes. But the UK needs its share of the swag. Don't we? nt

[elleng]

7. THIS is what the war was/is about.

.

[pattmarty]

8. O-peration I-raqi L-iberation. This was the first name for the.......

.....invasion until one of the least stupid Bush people noticed what it spelled. Should have left it that way, would have saved a lot of confusion and been a hell of a lot more truthful.

[rasputin1952]

13. Who didn't see this coming...

[Psephos]

15. Royal Dutch Shell is not an American company. This deal is a bit of a FU to US interests

Also, Shell remains a minority stakeholder in the joint venture.

-----------------------------------
Mr. Jihad denied that the joint venture would have a monopoly.

"It is only a partnership; there will not be monopoly of the gas. It is only the gas that is being wasted will be used, the gas that is currently wasted that will be exploited," he said.

"After Iraq takes its needs from gas, Shell will buy the surplus at the international price," he said.
-----------------------------------

Probably makes sense to actually read these articles before opining on them... :eyes:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

17. In secret agreement, Shell nets 25-year monopoly on S. Iraq's gas

Source: The Raw Story

Royal Dutch Shell oil company and the Iraqi Oil Ministry have struck a secret, as-of-yet non-binding agreement that gives a monopoly over southern Iraq's natural gas to the energy giant. It marks the first time in over 35 years a Western oil company has played a major role in the country's most lucrative industry.

Signed Sept. 22 and obtained by United Press International, the "Heads of Agreement" document -- basically a legal framework for a contract -- delegates Shell sole access to the reserves for the next 25 years, with an option to extend that term.

Shell says the arrangement gives it exclusive rights to all natural gas runoff produced by oil exploration operations in the southern portion of the country. However, like so many other major industrial contracts coming out of Iraq, the process used to reach an agreement is being questioned.

"There hasn't been much transparency in this agreement," said Ali Hussain Balou, chairman of Iraq's Oil and Gas Committee, in a report by Reuters. "They did not give a chance to another company. We want to know why."

Read more: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/In_secret_agreement_Shell_nets_25year_1108.html

[sarcasmo]

18. All the in fighting and this is one of the biggest stories of the last couple days.

[truthisfreedom]

19. Everything about bushco is corrupt.

It's sickening.

[ohio2007]

20. Those Dutch going after the run off from oil exploration

Chinese have some oil conracts and actually, capturing the gas is better then burning it off in the atmosphere at the drilling site.

jmo

[Dover]

21. 2006 - Syria Signs Two 20-Year Oil and Gas Contracts with Shell

It seems Shell is making out like a bandit.


Source: www.gulfoilandgas.com 10/5/2006, Location: Middle East
Exploration

Syria's Oil Ministry said Wednesday it signed two 20-year contracts worth $42 million with Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) for the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas in the northeast. Under the first contract, Shell will conduct exploration and exploitation work in an area extending from southwest of Deir El-Zour, 450 kilometers northeast of Damascus, to the Iraqi border, the ministry said in a statement.

The contract is worth $20 million.

The second deal, valued at $22 million, focuses on an area just south of Palmyra, 256 kilometers north of Damascus.

Under each, Syria receives 12.5% of oil produced and Shell trains employees of the state-owned Syrian Oil Company.

Signing the contracts at the Oil Ministry Wednesday were the head of the Syrian Oil Company, Ahmed Moalla, and general manager of Shell's Syrian operations, Campbell Keir.

Although Syria is the only significant producer of oil in the eastern Mediterranean, its production has declined over the past decade. In 1996, it peaked at 590,000 barrels a day, dropping to some 365,000 b/d of crude in 2005, according to the the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In 1985, Shell participated in establishing the largest foreign oil producer operating in Syria, Al-Furat Petroleum Co., which is currently joint owned by Syria's Oil Ministry, Shell, an Indian company and a Chinese firm.

http://www.gulfoilandgas.com/webpro1/MAIN/Mainnews.asp?id=3562



More info:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Syria's_oil_industry
http://www.ameinfo.com/77555.html

[Amonester]

22. So THAT is for WHAT 4,193 U.S. military personel died.

And thousands others maimed for life.

:grr:

SOMEONE SHOULD SUE SHELL

[lovuian]

23. its not even American company

amazing

[leveymg]

25. You're right - it's primarily British-owned. And, it was the Brits that occupied southern Iraq. Hmm

This would seem to explain why Blair was so quick to jump into this illegal war. Wonder what Tehran thinks about this? While the Persians publicly despise London, you have to wonder if this is part of some backroom deal.

[tblue]

24. This is what Dick's Secret Energy Task Force was all about

from the get-go. They should all burn in hell.