Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back

Image taken from original New York Times Article

Whooo, don't you love when the crazy conspiracy theorists are right for a change? I'm sure I'm the only blogger covering this (har har) but the New York Times is running a story about how the four major players in the oil industry which were in Iraq before Saddam Hussein nationalized oil (Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, and BP) along with a handful of other American oil companies are getting no-bid contracts (though only 1 or 2 years long) to start oil production in Iraq:

'Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil company officials and an American diplomat.'

Later on is my favorite part of the article though:

'The first oil contracts for the majors in Iraq are exceptional for the oil industry.

They include a provision that could allow the companies to reap large profits at today’s prices: the ministry and companies are negotiating payment in oil rather than cash.

“These are not actually service contracts,” Ms. Benali said. “They were designed to circumvent the legislative stalemate” and bring Western companies with experience managing large projects into Iraq before the passage of the oil law.

A clause in the draft contracts would allow the companies to match bids from competing companies to retain the work once it is opened to bidding, according to the Iraq country manager for a major oil company who did not consent to be cited publicly discussing the terms.'

This is just great, another way for the US government to hurt our reputation internationally both in terms of business practices, ethics, and energy consumption, and the icing on the cake is that people have been saying this for years, everyone kinda shrugging them off as crazies without proof, and then BAM, here it all is in its terrible terrible glory. Icing on the freaking cake. Enjoy future me, enjoy:

Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back