35 Firms OK'd to Bid on Iraq Oil Deals

AMMAN — Thirty-five international oil companies have qualified to bid for future oil and gas contracts to develop one of the world's largest oil fields, an Iraqi oil ministry statement said Sunday.

"The total number of the companies and consortia that participated in the prequalification process was 120 from various nationalities," said the ministry's petroleum contracts and licensing office.

The office listed 35 companies that it said were qualified. They include, among others, BP PLC, Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Lukoil Holdings, China National Petroleum Corp., Edison International SpA and Eni SpA.

The contracts office, however, said it would continue updating the process of qualifying companies "especially those that didn't pass (the qualification process) by updating their information with the view to allowing as many as possible of the IOCs to participate in the next licensing round."

Comments

[getoffmedz]

How did BP PLC, Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC go from benefactors to the roots of all evil?

Anyone in government want to look into that?

crickets

[willo]

How about letting the [Iraqi's] do their own work. They are capable and need the job's.

[OilWarsDotCom]

A fascist corporate government attacks a foreign nation, under false pretenses, to steal their natural resources and obtain strategic position for future conquests.
This nation is..............America. Shouldn't we be proud? We have become much like Hitler"s Nazi Germany. The Iraqis are fighting back, even though they have little chance of winning, because, as Winston Churchill said, it is better to fight when you have no chance to win because it is better than living as a slave. The perception of the USA is forever tarnished. Many in the world are now wary of the USA and rightfully so. Hitler said" Today Europe, tomorrow the world!" The PNAC and the DPG states much the same thing. Aren't we proud?

[vippy]

How in the heck is Iraq going to rebuild itself when we take their only resource of getting well?
Bush is stealing their oil, cannot deny it. I hope the Iraqis never sign off on that deal.

[VivaZapata]

when the contracts are all signed, we'll know, at last, that we've reached the point of MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Some humans just ain't human (john prine).

[BlackbirdHighway]

At last, the culmination of Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force, aka Operation Steal Iraq's Oil!

[gakabani]

This is part of the whole plan by Bush and Co. Increase oil prices to the limit (~5/gallon) to recover the value of the dollar and get free oil from Iraq. The whole deal is priceless for a few oil tycoons.

[Stanley]

This whole thing just keeps getting worse. We really feel the need to spend a trillion on spreading freedom? Can we live with the results of what the free Iraq chooses without feeling completely miserable and stupid? Seems like we are in a pile of deep deep doo doo and it's getting deeper. We are protecting this oil field so that others benefit. But the others who are benefiting will not helping pay for it to be protected. It seems like America is unfairly paying the security price for exporting oil or is unfairly raising the cost of oil because of this folly. Either way we lose. When does the US leadership recognize they screwed up and get out? Oh I supose the political thing to do would be to let the next President take the blame for leaving. If this was about stopping terrorism - failure. If this was about spreading freedom - failure. If this was about a better life for Iraqis - failure. If this was about securing oil for our future economic prosperity - failure. If this was about WMD's - failure. If this was about stability in the region and controlling Iran - failure. If this was about getting rich selling oil - success. If we are still there and may be for "100 years" then what is this really about?

[FatherWolf]

Now they're getting down to real business in Iraq.

Here comes the real payoff -- huge oil deals for (American-connected) companies, with protection from 140,000 U. S. troops.

[VivaZapata]

don't forget the 100,000 plus "contractors."

[OilWarsDotCom]

And don't forget WHO is making the downpayment on this oil - It isn't the oil companies - its we the sheeple

[ssg13565]

Maybe the only way that the Iraqis can get us to withdraw is to give the oil
contracts to Russia or China.

What a turn of events that will be for our economy.

Will they teach this in high school U.S. History classes as the legacy of George
W. Bush?

[sillyseason]

Why does this surprise anyone? Let's just stick our heads in the sand and let Bush/Cheney Bomb Iran so they can exploit their natural resources too. If you didn't know by now, that's next on the Bush/Cheney agenda.

[momofsonofwar]

some of our kids are sitting in ditches under our dumb azz government orders to protect those dumb azz pipe lines. thanks, dumb azz loo

[DC8P4DCEFE]

They are there by choice..........no one forced them to.................no sympathy for bad choices.

[browndog2]

What constitutes being qualified, and by whom?How many import/export companies deal in oil?How many are shell companies of hedge funds? Give this dog something to chew on.