Big Oil Poised To Do Business With Iraq

Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil And BP Could See Advantage Over Others In The Future

(AP)  Iraq is close to signing oil service deals with several major Western oil companies in an effort to boost its output capacity, the country's oil ministry said Thursday - the first major Iraqi contracts with big Western companies since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

The deals, once signed, are something of a stopgap measure to help Iraq begin to increase production until the country is able to approve a new national oil law - now held up by political squabbles among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

But they also could mark the beginning of an important long-term toehold by big Western companies into Iraq's potentially lucrative oil industry, by giving the companies a bidding advantage over other companies in the future.

Iraq's oil ministry spokesman would not name the companies set to get the deals.

But last December, four major companies - Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC, ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. - submitted technical and financial proposals for the five oil fields and received counterproposals from the Iraqi side.

The New York Times reported Thursday that Shell, BP and Exxon Mobil, plus Total, were the four major companies close to signing deals, along with Chevron and some smaller companies.

Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the names would be announced June 30, after the proposals are sent to the Iraqi Cabinet for final approval.

BP did not immediately return calls seeking comment, and officials at Paris-based Total SA refused Thursday to comment on the report or on any of the company's activities in Iraq. A London-based spokesman for Shell, Adam Newton, said negotiations were ongoing but he declined to release more details, saying they were confidential.

The other two companies could not immediately be reached.

In March, Iraq's Cabinet gave the nod to the Oil Ministry to sign the deals worth around $500 million each. Baghdad hopes to eventually add another 600,000 barrels per day of output to its current 2.5 million barrels per day.

Jihad, who would not discuss details of the contracts, said the deals will be for two years, renewable for a third. The Times reported that the deals were essentially made for the first two years on a no-bid basis.

In the third year, the contracts would be opened to competitive bidding - but the original holders would have an advantage in that bidding, through a clause that would allow them to match bids from competitors to retain the work, the Times reported. It cited the Iraq country manager for a major firm, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Such a deal would give the original holders of the no-bid contracts an important competitive advantage precisely at the time when Iraq's oil industry would be most likely to take off. It also is occurring at a time when access to undeveloped oil fields is highly prized - as companies seek new sources of production in a tight and expensive oil market.

Oil prices were at about $136 per barrel in trading on Thursday.

The predecessors of the four "majors," as they are called, first had a presence in Iraq in 1920 when they were the original partners in Iraq's Petroleum Company. They lost their licenses when the oil industry was nationalized in 1972.

Iraq sits on an estimated 115 billion barrels and it also has an estimated 112 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, according to the ministry.

Iraq's oil law, one of benchmarks set by U.S. administration to achieve progress toward national reconciliation, will regulate the work of foreign companies in the Iraqi oil sector. But it is stalled over who will have final authority to manage the country's oil and gas fields

Another ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information is sensitive, said Shell wants to develop the Missan and Kirkuk oil fields, while BP is interested in Rumaila, ExxonMobil in Zubair and Chevron in West Qurna stage 1.

The official added that the Australian BHP Billiton has joined talks through Shell, while French Total has joined through Chevron.

Anadarko, leading a consortium of Vitol Holding and the United Arab Emirates' Dome, has also joined these talks to develop Luhais oil field, he said.

[superdem]

Now we see the real reason for the Iraq war. In order for the oil companies to gain access to Iraq''s resources, the Saddam regime had to be toppled, and a compliant puppet government installed which would give that nation''s resources over to the foreigners. All the lies the Administration and its Republican corporate defenders have told were designed towards this end. 4,101 American soldiers have been killed for this. Many thousands more will live for forty years disabled so this could happen. Iraq is America''s gas station. That''s why we need the biggest embassy the world has seen there, not to stamp visas or help tourists, but to establish for the world to see that George Bush owns Iraq. This is the Republican dream, the action plan for Iraq. This is why they hate us, because we are invaders. At least Saddam could claim Kuwait was once an Iraqi province, we have no such excuse, so we had to make stuff up about WMDs and expanding democracy. But it was really all for this.

[killtheliars]

What Obama should do when he becomes President is to tell the big 4 oil companies you will pay back the U.S. taxpayers the cost of the Iraq war and occupation. If you don''t we will immediately pull out all troops and will not do anything to assist your people or facilities once we leave, you will recieve no U.S. protection.

[kissamaarse]

And there are those who thought and still cling to the belief that Iraq and the loss of American lives was about something beyond Big Oil and the greatest profits in the history of the world.

[barbaraf4]

Why will Big Oil get any profits? If we ever pry the oil out of Haliburton''s hands, it should start flowing into the American Treasury to repay the cost of the Iraqi War. Isn''t that what we were promised? Weren''t we told the War wouldn''t cost a dime because the oil would cover everything?

[taotxzen]

RNC: ''Im scaret of black people- Ooo-ee, Ooo-eee!!

[taotxzen]

What Issues Are Republicans REALLY Fighting For in 2008?

All topics on the RNC website:



Friday, June 20, 2008:
Public Outcry

Thursday, June 19, 2008:
Democrat Leadership and MoveOn.org At Odds With Obama on Public Financing of Elections

Thursday, June 19, 2008:
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) Attacked Obama For Withdrawing His Pledge To Accept Public Financing

Thursday, June 19, 2008:
Audacity Watch: Obama Ignores Anti-McCain Ads To Justify Breaking Pledge

Thursday, June 19, 2008:
Statement from RNC Chairman on Obama''s Broken Promise

Thursday, June 19, 2008:
They Said It Flashback!

Thursday, June 19, 2008:
Obama Vs. Obama on Public Financing

Thursday, June 19, 2008:
Obama Vs. Obama On Punishing Terrorists

Thursday, June 19, 2008:
RNC Statement On Juneteenth

Thursday, June 19, 2008:
They Said It! Barack Obama On Capturing Osama Bin Laden

Thursday, June 19, 2008:
RNC Statement on Obama''s Comments Concerning Osama bin Laden

Wednesday, June 18, 2008:
Obama Vs. Obama on NAFTA

Wednesday, June 18, 2008:
What''s the Hold Up? Part III

Wednesday, June 18, 2008:
They Said It Flashback!: Barack Obama On Responding To A Terrorist Attack

Wednesday, June 18, 2008:
Obama Vs. Obama on Iraq

Wednesday, June 18, 2008:
Obama''s Hypocrisy

Tuesday, June 17, 2008:
RNC Statement In Response To Frivolous DNC Lawsuit

Tuesday, June 17, 2008:
Obama V. Obama

Tuesday, June 17, 2008:
In Case You Missed It: Obama Tries To Have It Both Ways On Free Trade Issue

[taotxzen]

From our Favorite Right Wing Shill:

Rep. Blackburn Blames Bill Clinton, ANWR For High Gas Prices

By: Logan Murphy @ 10:40 AM - PDT

GOP Rep. Marsha Blackburn is big on Republican talking points, light on facts, and guaranteed to make you want to throw your teevee out the window %u2014 so I was happy to see her speaking on behalf of John McCain%u2019s campaign.

During MSNBC%u2019s coverage of Barack Obama%u2019s economic speech today in North Carolina, Nora O%u2019Donnell spoke with Blackburn about Obama%u2019s criticism of the disastrous Bush/McCain policies and on the topic of high gas prices, Marsha did what any good Republican would do %u2014 Blame Bill Clinton:

%u201C%u2026People are concerned about the economy and they%u2019re concerned about gas prices, and in 1995 it was President Clinton who vetoed drilling in Anwar. If he had not done that, we would be seeing more gas in the pipeline right now. So this is an issue I think that%u2019s tailor made for John McCain.%u201D

Where to begin? The ANWR myth has been debunked, but Marsha wasn%u2019t about to let those pesky facts get in the way. Besides, it%u2019s much better to blame Bill Clinton than take responsibility for your own party%u2019s failures, right?

Surly it couldn''t be the windfall profits that Big Oil is receiving. Let''s see, in 2000 when the Bush Gang rode in the industry averaged $20 Billion in profit, compare that to $120 Billion in 2007, that is a 600% increase in 7-years!

D@mn you Bill Clinton!!

[taotxzen]

The fact is, all of us are paying a %u201CBush premium%u201D at the pump%u2014we are the victims of bad policy, misplaced priorities and a misbegotten war.


1. For seven years, Bush''s policies have utterly failed to protect our nation''s energy security. The primary reason for our current high gas prices is that the Bush administration and its allies made no serious effort to end America''s dependence on foreign oil. They blocked efforts to encourage conservation, improve fuel efficiency, and mandate the use of renewable energy sources.

2. The Bush-McCain war in Iraq caused most of the "global unrest" and unleashed the speculators that have driven up world oil prices. Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz found that the Iraq war substantially increased crude oil prices, which in turn pushed up prices at the pump. Bush-McCain saber-rattling and threats of war against Iran and others raises additional fears of supply disruptions, prompting speculators to jack up prices.

3. Skyrocketing fuel prices shouldn''t surprise anyone because big oil companies wrote the Bush energy policy. The same big oil companies that recently reported windfall profits participated in Vice President Cheney''s 2001 task force that wrote the Bush Administration''s energy plan. Despite a lawsuit, the proceedings of this task force have remained secret to this day. But it would be hugely naove to think that the oil companies didn''t get exactly what they wanted.

[taotxzen]

Who will tell the people?

The thing that people need to realize is who will actually decide this election: the candidates, the corporate media or the voters? Just consider this, who will get the most time on the cooperate media; the actual candidates or the %u201Cspin doctors%u201D from each party that engage in %u201Cfact-free accusations%u201D and the %u201Che said, she said%u201D crossfire version of campaign coverage?

Who is going to fact check any of these statements that these paid pundits make, the cooperate media? Pundits will dominate the election coverage spewing any statement, however inaccurate and never be called on it.

Here%u2019s an example of fact versus %u201Cspin fiction%u201D:

John McCain, who has voted with President Bush 95% of the time in 2007 and 100% of the time in 2008 is being spun as a %u2018bipartisan%u2019 who reaches across the aisle and Barack Obama is being cast as %u2018the Most Liberal Member of the Senate%u2019 who has only the 40th most liberal voting record.

[tcoleman12]

So, if 3-8% profit is legitimate, which is in line with what the oil companies make, what is it when the government makes more of a profit than the company for doing nothing?

For that matter, what is it when the government makes 30-50% of my income in profit? And they are looking to increase that profit with the proposed plans by Obama....Insanity!

[tcoleman12]

Unfortunately for this country, hugging a tree hasn''t created one gallon of fuel or one BTU of energy. Too many are living in the past simply looking at oil or "Big Oil" and drilling as the primary option here.

We should have been building new Nuclear Energy plants over the past 5-10 years to remove some of the burden from the fossil plants and lower costs.

We should have been building new and expanding current refining capacity to keep up with a growing US economy and population. That would ensure supply and keep costs down.

We didn''t do either of those then, but we can start now.

[omaar-101]

Total Imports of Petroleum (Top 15 Countries)

(Thousand Barrels per Day)

Drill all You want, You can`t produce the Oil these Countries provide, nor will you see a drop in price at the gas pumps. Over 300 Million Americans, The Demand is Too Great and it will take 7-10 years to bring this Oil on shore, by that time, Gas will be 15 $ per gallon an we`ll be riding Horse & Buggys. Mass Nth, Sth, East Mid West & West Train Transit, Oppose to Air Planes and Diesel & Electric Cars. That or the Horse & Carriage.

CANADA 1,952 1,795 1,902 1,909 1,846

SAUDI ARABIA 1,453 1,535 1,519 1,458 1,358

MEXICO 1,259 1,232 1,230 1,460 1,471

NIGERIA 1,115 1,154 1,105 891 1,089

VENEZUELA 1,019 858 990 1,182 1,070

IRAQ 679 773 693 562 488

ANGOLA 579 384 469 514 556

ALGERIA 393 247 300 530 495

BRAZIL 201 188 182 175 174

KUWAIT 176 199 218 126 187

ECUADOR 160 231 203 159 200

COLOMBIA 149 135 168 79 100

CHAD 133 101 110 80 76

RUSSIA 106 108 77 269 137

LIBYA 85 75 68 45 56

Country Apr-08 Mar-08 YTD 2008 Apr-07 YTD 2007

[omaar-101]

Total Imports of Petroleum (Top 15 Countries)

(Thousand Barrels per Day)

Drill all You want, You can`t produce the Oil these Countries provide, nor will you see a drop in price at the gas pumps. Over 300 Million Americans, The Demand is Too Great and it will take 7-10 years to bring this Oil on shore, by that time, Gas will be 15 $ per gallon an we`ll be riding Horse & Buggys. Mass Nth, Sth, East Mid West & West Train Transist, Oppose to Air Planes and Diesel & Electric Cars. That or the Horse & Carriage.

CANADA 1,952 1,795 1,902 1,909 1,846

SAUDI ARABIA 1,453 1,535 1,519 1,458 1,358

MEXICO 1,259 1,232 1,230 1,460 1,471

NIGERIA 1,115 1,154 1,105 891 1,089

VENEZUELA 1,019 858 990 1,182 1,070

IRAQ 679 773 693 562 488

ANGOLA 579 384 469 514 556

ALGERIA 393 247 300 530 495

BRAZIL 201 188 182 175 174

KUWAIT 176 199 218 126 187

ECUADOR 160 231 203 159 200

COLOMBIA 149 135 168 79 100

CHAD 133 101 110 80 76

RUSSIA 106 108 77 269 137

LIBYA 85 75 68 45 56

Country Apr-08 Mar-08 YTD 2008 Apr-07 YTD 2007

[omaar-101]

Total Imports of Petroleum (Top 15 Countries)

(Thousand Barrels per Day)

Drill all You want, You can`t produce the Oil these Countries provide, nor will you see a drop in price at the gas pumps. Over 300 Million Americans, The Demand is Too Great and it will take 7-10 years to bring this Oil on shore, by that time, Gas will be 15 $ per gallon an we`ll be riding Horse & Buggys. Diesel & Electric cars or the Horse & Carriage.

CANADA 1,952 1,795 1,902 1,909 1,846

SAUDI ARABIA 1,453 1,535 1,519 1,458 1,358

MEXICO 1,259 1,232 1,230 1,460 1,471

NIGERIA 1,115 1,154 1,105 891 1,089

VENEZUELA 1,019 858 990 1,182 1,070

IRAQ 679 773 693 562 488

ANGOLA 579 384 469 514 556

ALGERIA 393 247 300 530 495

BRAZIL 201 188 182 175 174

KUWAIT 176 199 218 126 187

ECUADOR 160 231 203 159 200

COLOMBIA 149 135 168 79 100

CHAD 133 101 110 80 76

RUSSIA 106 108 77 269 137

LIBYA 85 75 68 45 56

Country Apr-08 Mar-08 YTD 2008 Apr-07 YTD 2007

[omaar-101]

Crude Oil Imports (Top 15 Countries)

(Thousand Barrels per Day)

April 2008 Import Highlights: June 13, 2008
Preliminary monthly data on the origins of crude oil imports in April 2008 has been released and it shows that two countries exported more than 1.50 million barrels per day to the United States.

The top five exporting countries accounted for 69 percent of United States crude oil imports in April while the top ten sources accounted for approximately 89 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports.


The top sources of US crude oil imports for April were Canada (1.952 million barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (1.453 million barrels per day), Mexico (1.259 million barrels per day), Nigeria (1.115 million barrels per day), and Venezuela (1.019 million barrels per day).

The rest of the top ten sources, in order, were Iraq (0.679 million barrels per day), Angola (0.579 million barrels per day), Algeria (0.393 million barrels per day), Brazil (0.201 million barrels per day), and Kuwait (0.176 million barrels per day).


Total crude oil imports averaged 9.921 million barrels per day in April.

Canada remained the Largest Exporter of total petroleum in April, exporting 2.476 million barrels per day to the United States, which is a decrease from last month (2.542 thousand barrels per day).

Note: The second largest exporter of total petroleum was Saudi Arabia with 1.462 million barrels per day.

[omaar-101]

William Ayers: Bill Clinton Pardoned (4 Members of The Weather-Underground)

Do We hear anyone saying We Apologize for the The Boston Tea party, The British-American War, Viet Nam, Iraq & Afghanistan Wars, The Branch Davidian Killings or the Hiroshima & Nagasaki Bombings or Supplying Saddam Hussein with Chemical Gases or the Over 1 Million Iraqi Babies, Children, Boys & Girls, Women & Men in Iraq under False Pretenses

Or the Over 4,095 Honorable US Men & Women Soldiers Killed in the Name Of Liberation (Farce) or the Thousands that have been Dis-Memebered or the Many Forced Amputations or the Mass Suicides or Attempted Suicides of American Soldiers, or the Thousands of Self Inflicted Shots by US Soldiers, not wanting to go back to Iraq or Afghanistan ?

This Iran Invasion was talked about for Months, via Israel, Ugly A$$ Madaleine Albright, Bush, Cheney, Rice & Mccain and Israel is going to INVOLVE US and World War 3 will Begin, Shortly, under False Pretenses....


Enlistment is Very LOW in America...

I Can`t wait til America Implements the Draft, then lets hear You Gung Ho, ASrm Chair Sideline, So Called `Patriotic` Warrior, Fakes Riot & Rebel against You or Your Own going to War.

[gaye5]

Posted by terrorislami: I Hate Arabic People, White People are God`s Chosen People, etc...

A bullet would be the cheapest way here...

Terrorislami, God did not only chose white people, he chose the whole human race and even you... Jesus sure wasn''t white.. he was not black either he was inbetween...

As Jesus talked that we were not to kill anyone, that we are to love everyone even our enemies, does that mean that you are not going to heaven???
I am just glad that Jesus didnt think like you.. There are many wonderful people in all races, having said that it is better if every race stays together as history has proven that no two races totally different with totally different gods can ever live together successfully for long especially once their numbers have grown..
You need to learn that there are beautiful people through out the world coming in all colors..
If people excepted each other and each others religions we would not have this problem in the world today..
Terrorislami, it is so sad that you are so full of hate, mind you when I see the fact that there has been over 11,300 terrorost attacks in 14 different countries over the past 6 years done by muslims, it sure causes one to hate..

[omaar-101]

William Ayers: Bill Clinton Pardoned (4 Members of The Weather-Underground)

Do We hear anyone saying We Apologize for the The Boston Tea party, The British-American War, Viet Nam, Iraq & Afghanistan Wars, The Branch Davidian Killings or the Hiroshima & Nagasaki Bombings or Supplying Saddam Hussein with Chemical Gases or the Over 1 Million Babies, Children, Boys & Girls, Women & Men in Iraq under False Pretenses

Or the Over 4,095 Honorable US Men & Women Soldiers Killed in the Name Of Liberation (Farce) or the Thousands that have been Dis-Memebered or the Many Forced Amputations or the Mass Suicides or Attempted Suicides of American Soldiers, or the Thousands of Self Inflicted Shots by US Soldiers, not wanting to go back to Iraq or Afghanistan ?

This Iran Invasion was talked about via Israel, madaleine Albright, Bush, Cheney, Rice & Mccain and Israel is going to INVOLVE US and World War 3 will Begin, Shortly, under False Pretenses....


Enlistment is Very low in America...

I Can`t wait til America Implements the Draft, then lets hear You Gung Ho, ASrm Chair Sideline, So Called `Patriotic` Warrior, Fakes Riot & Rebel against You or Your Own going to War.

[omaar-101]

----------------------------------------

Sierra Club lands program director Athan Manuel told a House committee Wednesday that drilling has been unsuccessful in driving costs down.


"The disappointing part about some of the energy policies being promoted (is) that it calls for more drilling when drilling really is the problem.

And all we`ve got to show for pretty aggressive (domestic) drilling for the last 35 years is, again, $4 for a gallon of gas," Manuel said, adding ...

"since the first Arab oil shock in the 1970s, the U.S. has produced almost 90 billion barrels of oil since then, so we`ve tried drilling our way out of the problem and it just hasn`t worked."


Environment Florida spokeswoman Holly Binns told the Media General news group that offshore drilling has NO IMMEDIATE IMPACT ON PRICES.

"It would take anywhere from 7-10 years to bring those resources to shore to have any measurable impact on supply, Binns said, advocating renewable energy sources.

Democrats held their own series of events on Capitol Hill Wednesday to focus attention on global warming and energy independence, but drilling is not on the agenda.


House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Tuesday ongoing calls for more drilling "is the Johnny One-Note of the Republican Party."

[terrorislami]

ARE YOU PART OF THE HUSSEIN RACIST HATE AMERICA CLUB???

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=obama+william ayers
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=obama bernardine dohrn
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=obama rev jeremiah wright&btnG=Search
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http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=black liberation theology&btnG=Search
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=black value system

DEMOCRATS FOR MCCAIN,,,

HUSSEIN IS GOING DOWN,,,

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=democrats for mccain

HUSSEIN IS LYING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

HUSSEIN LOVES RADICALS THAT HATE AMERICA,,, LIKE HE DOES