Iraq Awards First Post-War Oilfield Contracts

[wicket]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&e=3&u=/nm/20041216/wl_nm/energy_iraq_dc

Iraq's oil ministry has awarded the country's first post-war oilfield development contracts to Turkish and Canadian firms, an oil official said on Thursday.

Turkey's Everasia won the contract to develop the Khurmala Dome field in the north, said the official who declined to be named.

A Canadian firm named IOG will develop the Himrin field, the official added. Canada's Ironhorse Oil and Gas Inc denied that it was the company in question.

If approved by the cabinet, the agreements will be the first oil deals with foreign firms Iraq has struck since the end of Saddam Hussein's rule.

[benburch]

1. Post-war?

Assuming it ever ends????

[Deja Q]

10. If they're a big part of the war on terror, then 'post war' is a lie.

Funny, that. A lie. Seems weird... </sarky>

[oly]

2. I think a big question is whether foriegn corporations can own

the land on top of the oil. How did that shake out? I think I know.

[highnooner]

3. They mean post-invasion,

not post-war.

[donsu]

4. actually it's 'during the invasion'

we're still murdering people, that's pretty invasive

[Just Me]

12. Hey. BOiNG!!! The neoCONfascist plan was to sell the country,...

,...literally,...lock, stock & barrel. Insurers backed off,..investors disappeared,...and now you add another complication to the "free-war-marketeers" plan to profit.

Naughty you!!! Shame, shame,...LOL!!!

[donsu]

5. Canada??? how do canadians feel about this dividing of loot?

nt

[wicket]

6. hopefully some Canadian DUers can give us their insight

n/t

[daleo]

7. It is the first I have heard of it, and it is disturbing

The denial by the firm in question is interesting. Perhaps this "Canadian" company is just a shell incorporated in Canada for political purposes, and the real backers are back in Texas. I am just speculating, though.

[Just Me]

13. I wish I had the "plan" on hand,...neoCONfascists planned to sell off,...

,...the whole country,...it was a "free market" frontier thingy.

"They" had a plan,...to sell to the highest bidder,...figuring that "the people" were merely pawns to their leader,...and that they would rejoice in any leader other than the one they had.

Pretty f-upped, huh.

[daleo]

14. Yes, international piracy plain and simple

Although I think there were many other motivations for the Iraqi invasion as well, simple greed was the clincher. So far it hasn't been as easy as they thought it would be. They ignored the the pawns, which I have heard is a often fatal mistake in chess. Apparently it is a fatal mistake in imperialism too.

[TahitiNut]

15. I'm betting it really is a shell corporation.

'IOG' probably means "Iraqi Oil & Gas" and was probably set up for the specific purpose of obfuscating the real beneficiaries. I'd even bet it's not publicly traded and, thus, has undisclosed owners. The 'officers' are probably lawyers hired to be the front men.

[Cocoa]

8. this is peanuts

The cost of the three projects combined has been estimated at $500 million. Their small size and scope has failed to attract the interest of major international oil companies.

[wicket]

9. kick

:kick:

[Just Me]

11. HUH???? What happened to all that oil already pumped?

Excuse the f*ck outta' me,...BUT,...hasn't a helluva lot of oil been pumped over the last 20 months?

Where has that gone?

WTF

Awww,...does it have something to do with those "accidental" oil spills all over the damned place?

[TahitiNut]

16. These are 'development' contracts, not extraction.

These companies will be drilling and setting up pumping stations and transit piping facilities, it seems to me. Relatively small potatoes.