IRAQ: OIL LAW
Published in B&E- 05 April 2007
Greasy, greedy...
Bush in cahoots with MNCs will now exploit Iraqi oil fields
Those who say that Bush has lost the war in Iraq, are certainly missing the real picture, blinded as they are by the blatant rhetoric propagated by Western media. Bush did not invade Iraq to save Iraqis from the tweezers grip of a tyrant- it was always for oil and just oil. (According to the US Department of Energy-Iraq contains 112 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the second largest in the world behind Saudi Arabia). As if proving this assertion, on 17 March, (the 4th anniversary of the invasion) Bush was busy getting a seal of approval on his ‘ideological’ odyssey through a new Iraqi oil law – satiating his salacious intent to grab the country’s oil for his multinational cronies, as Suddha Mahalingam a Nehru fellow & an energy expert told B&E, “The proposed oil law is a vicious privatisation drive (The Iraq National Oil Company would have exclusive control of just 17 of Iraq’s 80 known oil fields, leaving two-thirds of the known & yet to be discovered fields to foreign control) & a sinister attempt to scissor up Iraq”. The huge Iraqi oil reserves have been the cynosure of global oil giants Exxon-Mobile and Chevron, the British BP-Amoco and Royal Dutch-Shell for decades. In 1961, General Qasim had recovered most of Iraq’s oil from a foreign cartel through Law Number 80 – in early 1970s. The Ba’athist regime had further strengthened nationalisation of country’s oil assets. Irked by Saddam Hussein’s policy of keeping the Anglo-Saxons on the fringes of his oil wells, the big oil companies had been desperate to see the ouster of Saddam at any cost. Ever since the fall of Saddam, the American and British companies have been at the forefront in shaping Iraqi oil policy – both internally (former Chevron Vice President and current CEO of Colonial Pipeline Co. Norm Szydlowski serves as a liaison between the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Oil Ministry) and externally (according to a Guardian report, a 15 member board of advisors largely consisting of the big-wigs in big oil companies represent Iraq at the OPEC).
The law in Iraq promises a just and equitable distribution of oil revenues to the three major ethnic communities – the Shiites, Kurdish and Sunnis. Regional demographics will now determine the revenue sharing arrangement. The law also grants autonomy to regional governments to draw up contracts with MNCs for the exploration and development of new oil fields. Regions will still be permitted to enter into production-sharing agreements with foreign firms. However, the entire process will be monitored by the Federal Oil & Gas Council armed with powers to veto the regional decisions. In effect, the entire arrangement is nothing but a display of malicious intent to ensure that the three major communities in Iraq remain perpetually divided.With the long term contracts well in their pockets, the big oil companies are now looking at legally and official sucking huge profits from the blood spilled streets of Baghdad. If only Bush and Cheney were true Americans, they would have refrained from sending their soldiers on this disgraceful expedition of death and destruction to fulfil some greasy dreams of MNCs. Congratulations, Mr. Bush. You have won a fantastic ‘oil’y victory in Iraq.
Those who say that Bush has lost the war in Iraq, are certainly missing the real picture, blinded as they are by the blatant rhetoric propagated by Western media. Bush did not invade Iraq to save Iraqis from the tweezers grip of a tyrant- it was always for oil and just oil. (According to the US Department of Energy-Iraq contains 112 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the second largest in the world behind Saudi Arabia). As if proving this assertion, on 17 March, (the 4th anniversary of the invasion) Bush was busy getting a seal of approval on his ‘ideological’ odyssey through a new Iraqi oil law – satiating his salacious intent to grab the country’s oil for his multinational cronies, as Suddha Mahalingam a Nehru fellow & an energy expert told B&E, “The proposed oil law is a vicious privatisation drive (The Iraq National Oil Company would have exclusive control of just 17 of Iraq’s 80 known oil fields, leaving two-thirds of the known & yet to be discovered fields to foreign control) & a sinister attempt to scissor up Iraq”. The huge Iraqi oil reserves have been the cynosure of global oil giants Exxon-Mobile and Chevron, the British BP-Amoco and Royal Dutch-Shell for decades. In 1961, General Qasim had recovered most of Iraq’s oil from a foreign cartel through Law Number 80 – in early 1970s. The Ba’athist regime had further strengthened nationalisation of country’s oil assets. Irked by Saddam Hussein’s policy of keeping the Anglo-Saxons on the fringes of his oil wells, the big oil companies had been desperate to see the ouster of Saddam at any cost. Ever since the fall of Saddam, the American and British companies have been at the forefront in shaping Iraqi oil policy – both internally (former Chevron Vice President and current CEO of Colonial Pipeline Co. Norm Szydlowski serves as a liaison between the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Oil Ministry) and externally (according to a Guardian report, a 15 member board of advisors largely consisting of the big-wigs in big oil companies represent Iraq at the OPEC).
The law in Iraq promises a just and equitable distribution of oil revenues to the three major ethnic communities – the Shiites, Kurdish and Sunnis. Regional demographics will now determine the revenue sharing arrangement. The law also grants autonomy to regional governments to draw up contracts with MNCs for the exploration and development of new oil fields. Regions will still be permitted to enter into production-sharing agreements with foreign firms. However, the entire process will be monitored by the Federal Oil & Gas Council armed with powers to veto the regional decisions. In effect, the entire arrangement is nothing but a display of malicious intent to ensure that the three major communities in Iraq remain perpetually divided.With the long term contracts well in their pockets, the big oil companies are now looking at legally and official sucking huge profits from the blood spilled streets of Baghdad. If only Bush and Cheney were true Americans, they would have refrained from sending their soldiers on this disgraceful expedition of death and destruction to fulfil some greasy dreams of MNCs. Congratulations, Mr. Bush. You have won a fantastic ‘oil’y victory in Iraq.
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