Iraq Oil Fields Receive One Offer; Foreign Firms Reject Government Terms

Al Jazeera:

Iraq's long-awaited licensing round to develop some of its massive oil reserves has run into trouble as international oil and gas companies rejected all but one deal, demanding more money for their efforts than the government was willing to pay.

Read the whole story: Al Jazeera

Comments

[1dogs2]

Oh dear. Cheney's and the US/Brit oil companies' carefully laid plans when they met (pre-Iraq-war) and carved up the Iraqi oil fields among themselves all gone awry.

[motown67]

The Americans and British did not carve up Iraq's oil fields. Under Saddam Iraq had a state run economy. Under the Coalition Provisional Authority the U.S. privatized all of these businesses EXCEPT the oil industry. It's still state run. The contracts that the Oil Ministry is giving out are technical service agreements where the companies get paid a set fee, and do not get a portion of the oil profits. They also have to give the Iraqi government a huge loan just to start work. Most of the companies bidding for the fields are also not American or British. You have a skewed sense of Iraq if you think the Americans and British invaded Iraq so that Baghdad can still control their oil and then try to help production using mostly non-American/British companies. musingsoniraq.blogspot.com

Here are the companies bidding:
Exxon Mobile
Royal Dutch Shell
Reposal (Spain)
Maersk Oil and Gas (Denmark)
Statoil Hydro (Norway)
Lukoil (Russia)
Total (France)
CNPC (China)
Petronas (Malaysia)
British Petroleum
Sinpoec (China)
Turkish Petroleum Corp
Eni (Italy)
Occidental and Korean Gas
ONGC (India)
Gazprom (Russia)
CNOOC (China)
Sinochem (China)
Conoco Phillips
Edison (Italy)
TPAO (Turkey)
Korea Gas Corp.

[Squaker]

Just pump your own oil. You don't need them to do it.

[helonias]

Google Operation Ajax

[sonoffestus]

I guess we'll have to go to war.

[arle]

Stick to your proverbial guns, Iraq. Don't sell yourself to these corporate sharks -- you can find people who are willing to give you a /fair/ deal for your natural resources.

[ModernTimes1]

The problem is with the real gun and not the proverbial ones. That's why many international companies are reluctant to pay so much while subjected to very high security risks.

[grace14]

cheney behind close doors on this one you think? hmmm

[marignymitch]

Why are we auctioning our oil?

[sviolette]

Their oil not our oil.

[GeorgeP922]

Do you work for Exxon?

They might as well hire t ro lls, they have billions in surplus.

[berzelius]

I know they can't but they should just nationalize their oil again.

[GeorgeP922]

You go get em Iraq and know that AMERICA is pulling for you guys.

And please get every dime from these jerks, or better yet, do the right thing and KICK THEM OUT.

At the very least the world RICHEST companies should respect the sovereignty of Iraq.

[Jaywalkker]

Great, BP won the initial bidding process. I'm not holding out much hope for fair dealings/reimbursement to Iraq considering their operations as Anglo-Persian Oil Company then Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, before morphing into BP after the CIA/MI6 deposing of the Shah.

Iraq should hold out for best deal. Probably hit us in the pocket book but no worse than the damnable spectators have already been doing the last couple of years.

[GeorgeP922]

I don't get how any of it will cost us anything.

Im still confused how and why we let these 5 companies in?

Our fuel prices were great under State controlled oil in Iraq pre-2003.

[sviolette]

It's not our oil. I'm confused as to why you think WE had any say.

[bobwalters]

Ummm, I think it was the democratically-elected Mossadegh that was deposed in Iran by the CIA/MI6 at the behest of Churchill ON BEHALF of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The Shah was IMPOSED by the same spooks. But I agree with your encouragement of the Iraqis, and I think the term you're looking for is "speculators" rather than "spectators." ;--)