Iraq to give Western companies control of oil: report
Ahnimus
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The Iraqi government plans to introduce a law that will give control of the country's huge oil reserves to Western oil companies, a British newspaper says.
The government is drafting a law based on "production-sharing agreements (PSAs)," which will give major companies rights on Iraq's oil for up to 30 years, the Independent on Sunday reported.
It said it had been given a copy of the draft law from last July, and the draft has not been changed significantly since then.
Critics say the agreements will be bad news for Iraq because they guarantee profits to the companies while giving little to the country. With 112 billion barrels, Iraq has the second largest reserves in the world, the U.S. government says.
Platform, a London-based pressure group that seeks to minimize the impact of oil companies, says on its website that Iraq endorsed production-sharing agreements last fall, just as Russia sought to undo a similar deal it signed in the period of turmoil after the Communist regime collapsed.
Russia has realized it signed a bad deal to develop a gas project, which allocated the risk to the government and the profit to the private sector, Platform said, citing published Russian reports.
"Russia realized the mistakes it made by signing PSA contracts only when it was too late. It remains to be seen whether Iraq follows the same course," the group said in October.
Attack on Iraq motivated by oil?
Platform's Greg Muttitt said the U.S. government, international oil companies and the International Monetary Fund had been asked to comment on the draft Iraqi legislation, but many members of the Iraqi parliament have not seen it.
The Independent said Iraq may adopt PSA contracts because it is in a weak bargaining position.
The legislation, if passed as in the draft the Independent was given, would stoke claims that the U.S.-led attack on Iraq was motivated by oil.
The U.S. has denied that. For example, in 2003, then Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld called the idea "utter nonsense."
Speaking to the Arab TV network Al-Jazeera, he said: "We don't take our forces, and go around the world and try to take other people's real estate or other people's resources, their oil. That's just not what the United States does."
The Independent said signing PSA deals would be a first for a major oil-exporting country. Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two leading exporters, both control their oil industries tightly through state-owned companies.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/01/08/iraq-oil.html
The government is drafting a law based on "production-sharing agreements (PSAs)," which will give major companies rights on Iraq's oil for up to 30 years, the Independent on Sunday reported.
It said it had been given a copy of the draft law from last July, and the draft has not been changed significantly since then.
Critics say the agreements will be bad news for Iraq because they guarantee profits to the companies while giving little to the country. With 112 billion barrels, Iraq has the second largest reserves in the world, the U.S. government says.
Platform, a London-based pressure group that seeks to minimize the impact of oil companies, says on its website that Iraq endorsed production-sharing agreements last fall, just as Russia sought to undo a similar deal it signed in the period of turmoil after the Communist regime collapsed.
Russia has realized it signed a bad deal to develop a gas project, which allocated the risk to the government and the profit to the private sector, Platform said, citing published Russian reports.
"Russia realized the mistakes it made by signing PSA contracts only when it was too late. It remains to be seen whether Iraq follows the same course," the group said in October.
Attack on Iraq motivated by oil?
Platform's Greg Muttitt said the U.S. government, international oil companies and the International Monetary Fund had been asked to comment on the draft Iraqi legislation, but many members of the Iraqi parliament have not seen it.
The Independent said Iraq may adopt PSA contracts because it is in a weak bargaining position.
The legislation, if passed as in the draft the Independent was given, would stoke claims that the U.S.-led attack on Iraq was motivated by oil.
The U.S. has denied that. For example, in 2003, then Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld called the idea "utter nonsense."
Speaking to the Arab TV network Al-Jazeera, he said: "We don't take our forces, and go around the world and try to take other people's real estate or other people's resources, their oil. That's just not what the United States does."
The Independent said signing PSA deals would be a first for a major oil-exporting country. Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two leading exporters, both control their oil industries tightly through state-owned companies.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/01/08/iraq-oil.html
I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
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Comments
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
George Orwell was right.
I doubt it. The security needed to man these stolen assets will cost the earth.
thats like 40 years from now..ill be in my 60's.
so fuck it.
hahahaha...great logic
You never know your luck! The thieves and murderers in the White House may decide to invade Venezuela in the next couple of years and solve all your problems.
At least the US troops are guaranteed to be getting sun tans for at least thirty more years. Who needs FLA when you have Iraq!
Yeah. What a great time to be in the American armed forces. You're now guaranteed a sun tan and a life expectancy of 20 years of age.
Do you really think the benevolent Oil Companies give a rat's ass about you?
Or... would they be more interested in making huge profits from selling the shit to China?
...
Let's see... let Miller save a few bucks a year on his gas bill or make billions in the Chinese Market... Wow... that's a tough one.
Hail, Hail!!!
And governments never make shady, underhanded dealings... right?
Hail, Hail!!!
Sure they do, but what benefit could be so great that Iraq is willing to give up most of its chips? If the Iraqis really want the US to get the hell out of there, why make a move that will ensure they (US) will be hanging around for at least 20-30 more years?
Your joking, right? Surely?
No
You have to ask... 'Who benefits?'
...
Regular Joe Iraqi? No.
Regular Joe U.S. Army Guy? No.
Regular Joe American? No.
Big Money Oil? Yes.
Iraqi Politicians Who Make The Deal in Favor Of Money And Power? Yes.
...
The Iraqi Government officials make kickback deals, just like all politicians. And when you are talking about a resource that many nations NEED... you have to be either naive, an idiot or turn a blind eye that corruption in not going to take place... especially in the Middle East.
You don't seriously believe that those Iraqi officials give a rat's ass about our troops... or their citizens, do you?
Hail, Hail!!!
from my window to yours
I find it incredible that you think the Iraqi Government has any power independent of American wishes. They're a puppet government. A phony government. Pure and simple. They do what they're told.
Meet the New Boss... Same as the Old Boss.
Hail, Hail!!!
Congratulations, I try to impress whenever I can. I guess I have a different view of what a democratically elected government is then you do.
I dont see a problem with that...welcome to the new american century.
A century of lies, terror, war, and racism. Is this really how 'America' want's to go down in history?
exactly.. this must be the victory the warmongers have been talking about.
in 2000, the PNAC crew wished for western control of middle eastern oil, and now they'll get it. lovely.
they also wanted a permanent military presence in the region, so don't expect our troops to be leaving anytime soon.
(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and abuse, said today that documents turned over by the Commerce Department, under court order as a result of Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit concerning the activities of the Cheney Energy Task Force, contain a map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as 2 charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects, and “Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts.” The documents, which are dated March 2001, are available on the Internet at: http://www.JudicialWatch.org.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/IraqOilMap.pdf
http://www.judicialwatch.org/IraqOilFrgnSuitors.pdf
http://www.judicialwatch.org/IraqOilGasProj.pdf
2. The timing is just great for Bush because the American public is tried of the war, especially, with only death and no benefit being obtained. Well here's your benefit.
--the public will rationalize and forgive 9/11 and the deaths of troops in Iraq because they preceive an end and a benefit.
-- Bush will get his additional troops and funding because of this announcement and if he pulls off a stop in the civil war and some sense of reconstruction, 2008 will have a Republican President, maybe even Jeb.
--Somalia becomes clearer because, it doesn't take that kind of military power, plus an aircraft carrier to handle Somalia. Something had to be in the works. I'll be interested in seeing what sea lanes these companies try to claim.
-- I don't think the Saudis are truly prepared for what is about to happen. I'm sure the U.S. is going to make it clear that there's a new sheriff in the oil game. Maps of the entire Middle East regional oil fields have been laid out by Cheney's Energy Task Force.
3. Under the Bremer Orders Iraq controls nothing and the government is nothing more than a figurehead for the next 100 years, that remains in effect. The difference is that after 30 years, Iraq will be able to obtain profits revenues from the sell of its existing oil.
A sampling of the most important orders demonstrates the economic imprint left by the Bush administration: Order No. 39 allows for: (1) privatization of Iraq's 200 state-owned enterprises; (2) 100% foreign ownership of Iraqi businesses; (3) "national treatment" - which means no preferences for local over foreign businesses; (4) unrestricted, tax-free remittance of all profits and other funds; and (5) 40-year ownership licenses.
Thus, it forbids Iraqis from receiving preference in the reconstruction while allowing foreign corporations - Halliburton and Bechtel, for example - to buy up Iraqi businesses, do all of the work and send all of their money home. They cannot be required to hire Iraqis or to reinvest their money in the Iraqi economy. They can take out their investments at any time and in any amount.
Orders No. 57 and No. 77 ensure the implementation of the orders by placing U.S.-appointed auditors and inspector generals in every government ministry, with five-year terms and with sweeping authority over contracts, programs, employees and regulations.
Order No. 17 grants foreign contractors, including private security firms, full immunity from Iraq's laws. Even if they, say, kill someone or cause an environmental disaster, the injured party cannot turn to the Iraqi legal system. Rather, the charges must be brought to U.S. courts.
Order No. 40 allows foreign banks to purchase up to 50% of Iraqi banks.
Order No. 49 drops the tax rate on corporations from a high of 40% to a flat 15%. The income tax rate is also capped at 15%.
Order No. 12 (renewed on Feb. 24) suspends "all tariffs, customs duties, import taxes, licensing fees and similar surcharges for goods entering or leaving Iraq." This led to an immediate and dramatic inflow of cheap foreign consumer products - devastating local producers and sellers who were thoroughly unprepared to meet the challenge of their mammoth global competitors.
And finally,
4. This is how a country's people become poor and dependent on world aid, even though their natural resources are making millions and billions of dollars for foreign governments, corporations and investors.
When did this info come to light?
but, but, but.. i thought this war was fought because saddam was going to get us with his nookular weapons?
Then you are in agreement... the War in Iraq has nothng to do with liberation or spreading democracy and everything to do with getting our hands on the oil. The War is about oil.
That's what we've been telling you all along... glad to see you finally get the picture.
Hail, Hail!!!